


Thirst

by Esselle



Series: Thirst [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A/B/O-lite, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Blacksmithing, Blow Jobs, First Time, Kageyama has self esteem issues, M/M, Master/Apprentice, Masturbation, Omega Verse, Porn with Feelings, Rimming, Scent Kink, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Third Gym (Haikyuu!!), Touch-Starved, no non/dub con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2018-12-26 04:37:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 46,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12051465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esselle/pseuds/Esselle
Summary: ' "It's you. I can… smell you," Hinata said, a little awed, and Tobio realized the reverse was true as well. Whatever he was smelling, that hot, smoky scent—that was Hinata.Tobio bowed his head to rest his cheek against Hinata’s forehead, breathing deep inhales of his skin. He had never done this before, never. Not only because of the enormous breach of social conduct, in casually letting a Wolf who had professed no interest in courting him scent a Lamb like him this way; but also because he had never met one who had ever found his scent pleasing.Hinata thought he smelled good?'--There was a little village where a Wolf smith kept a forge,And a Lamb with hair as black as night came one day through its doors.The smith was kind, his smile was bright, like iron shaped by fire,And the Lamb felt for the first time a strange yearning, a desire.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thirst is finally here! Thank you endlessly to [Ellie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellessey/pseuds/Ellessey) and [RC](http://reallycorking.tumblr.com/) for getting me through this fic <3
> 
> Brief note: I'm borrowing some elements of omegaverse in this fic, the main things being:
> 
>   * Alpha (Wolf)/Omega (Lamb) dynamics
>   * self-lubrication (so simple... so convenient)
>   * heat cycles
> 

> 
> I'm so excited to finally be posting, and I hope everyone enjoys ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy KageHina Day!!!!

The village was small and indistinct. The small carriage currently trundling through the sleepy, foggy streets did so on wheels that wobbled and stuck, more often than not, in the muck that had congealed after one of the chilly January rains. Even the areas that had cobblestones were treacherous, as most of them were loose or worn away entirely. It was not a wealthy village, by any means. Quaint, but lacking in idyllism. Quiet, but with little charm.

Tobio looked out at it from the carriage windows, and was relieved.

Compared to the noble household where he'd grown up, the grand, sweeping halls of study he'd trained in his whole life, or the glimmering castle walls he'd been told he must make himself a part of, this—these cottages and workers that only ever lingered on the gilded edges of storybooks, and never on the pages themselves… this seemed more a place where he might, finally, fit in.

Perhaps he should always have expected this outcome. But that was a foolish way to look at it, he knew. He may be incredibly rare among the general population, but among other Lambs, his story was a common one. Peasant-born, plucked from the flock before his earliest memories had formed, by those who hoped he would be beautiful and diplomatic and promising. He had been brought up amongst wealth and propriety, to prepare him for marriage to a high-born noble or, if he was truly special, a monarch. If they could find a proper Wolf match for him, all the better.

And he had tried, truly, he had. But for all that he could learn the practical skills, it was the social tricks that had never come to him, no matter how late he laid awake, vowing to himself that the next day, no, the next, _alright_ , the _next,_ he would be what they wanted him to be. His dreams would always remind him of the ever-widening chasm, between himself and the rest.

His attitude was lacking; his smiles were nonexistent. The delicate grace and charm others of his kind exuded, and were prized for, were nowhere to be found within him, it seemed. Behind their hands, his peers had taken to calling him the Ram—for his unintended bluntness, and his talent for butting heads with the exact wrong kinds of people, the ones he was supposed to be wooing, flirting with. His existence, so far, had totaled an unmitigated disaster. His shortcomings were expensive; the aristocracy had neither the time, nor the space for them.

So he'd been sent back, to a town he couldn't remember, and that didn't remember him. Yet somehow, it felt like coming home.

It was early morning yet, right after daybreak, and the town was only just beginning to stir to life. Those who were out and about so early stared curiously at the carriage as it passed by, and Tobio leaned back in his seat. The rest of the tiny village would surely learn of his origins soon enough, but before that happened, he'd like to get settled on his own terms. He didn't want to be marked apart before he'd even set foot on the ground. 

There was just one individual who knew who and what he was, or that he was coming—a blacksmith with whom his adoptive family had found him an assistantship, and a place to live as he was getting his bearings. His real parents had moved on long ago, supported by the land grants and money they had received from the king when their Lamb offspring had been taken to a more promising life. But Tobio had no real ties to them, as it were. Truthfully speaking, he had no real ties to anyone.

The carriage slowed to a stop on a small, secluded street where the blacksmith forge was tucked away. It was quiet here; both the shop and the smith seemed to still be sleeping. The coachman let Tobio out and helped him offload his luggage, of which there wasn't much. Tobio had owned many things at the manor house he'd grown up in, but been overly fond of few of them. Then the man said goodbye, cracked the reins, and left him standing there in the road, alone.

The door to the forge was clearly marked, with a large metal sign above it, a hammer and anvil prominent on the black iron. Tobio wondered if it would be considered rude to knock and wake the owner so early, but the man was supposed to have been expecting him as it was, and Tobio wasn't inclined to wait. So he approached, and rapped smartly upon the door.

"Hello?" he called. "Excuse me—I believe I'm supposed to be starting an assistantship here today."

There was no response to be found.

Frowning, Tobio looked to his left. That way led down a narrow alley, and what looked to be a dead end. He looked to his right. There was an open area, housing an outdoor hearth, and past that, a path that meandered around to the back of the building. He chose the path, and wandered down it. The shop was longer than it looked from the outside, and presently, he realized the blacksmith must live there, as well, though the windows had the curtains drawn.

"Hello?" he whispered loudly at one of them. And then, he thought he heard a noise—a loud clucking and commotion.

Now curious, he kept going, and as he walked, he thought it sounded like the noise was moving with him. There was a clattering, a clang, a crash, what sounded almost like the loud flap of _wings,_ and right as he turned the corner of the building, a door at the back flew open with a bang.

An enormous red rooster ran out of it.

"Out!" a voice shouted. And then, "Wait— _give me back my bread!"_

In the next moment, a man, with longish hair even redder than the bird's feathers, came sprinting out after the rooster. It crowed in panic and lurched away, faster than Tobio had ever seen a bird move on two legs.

This seemed fully justified, as the man was not only waving a rolling pin above his head, but was also entirely naked.

As Tobio stared in shock, the rooster began to flap its wings, trying to lift its ungainly body and the half loaf of bread in its mouth into the air. But the man flung himself forward, and, right before the unlucky bird could gain freedom by flight, managed to catch it around its round body. It squawked, unhappily grounded.

"No, you don't," the man said furiously as it clucked and struggled. _"Not_ again, this is the fourth time you've stolen my breakfast—"

The bread in question seemed a lost cause now, to Tobio, as the man yanked it from the rooster's beak, scattering crumbs everywhere. But the man cackled in triumph.

"That's right," he said, "that is _right,_ you sneaky bastard, you can go right back to your coop and cry about it—"

"Um," Tobio said, finally, "are you Hinata Shouyou?" He hoped the answer was no.

The man (and the rooster) froze. Very slowly, the man turned to look at Tobio.

"Yes," the man said. _Dammit,_ Tobio thought. "Who are you?"

"I'm… the—"

"Oh, _hell,"_ said Hinata, "are you the assistant?"

"I am," Tobio confirmed.

"Ah…" Hinata said. "I forgot that was today."

Tobio looked at him in disbelief. Today was the day his entire life was to start over, and this man had just… forgotten?

"Well," he said. "It is today. And here I am. And there… you are." He couldn't help the slight wrinkle of irritation that crept into his voice, but tried to squash it down. _Be gentle in tone,_ he tried to remind himself. Surely he could manage for the first day.

Hinata grabbed the rooster and hopped to his feet. He was much shorter than Tobio. "Here you are!" he said brightly. "Sorry about all the fuss, don't mind Red, he just likes to cause trouble—"

But Tobio wasn't minding Red the Rooster. His attention, when Hinata had stood up, unconcerned or unashamed and right in front of him, had been drawn to other places entirely. He forgot, for a moment, all sense of propriety as he stared, eyes widening and widening, south of both Hinata's face, and his rooster.

"Is something wrong?" Hinata asked him.

"You have—" Tobio blurted, "a _massive—_ " He caught himself, just in time, wrenching his gaze back upward before catastrophe struck. "— _rooster._ "

Hinata stared at him for a moment. Then he laughed. "Ah, him. He is a bit fat, isn't he? He keeps eating my food, but I've grown attached to him, so… here he is."

"There he is," Tobio repeated faintly, though the cock he was referring to, in truth, was not the one Hinata was holding.

"Well, come on inside," Hinata said, turning, and Tobio nodded, dumbly, and followed him in.

It was warm and dark inside the house. The building itself was a single story, with the forge in front and living quarters in back. There were several small rooms to the home; a cooking area with a low table; a small sitting area; what looked like a bedroom through a door opposite the entrance.

"It's a little small," Hinata remarked. "Sorry, I had thought you'd be a bit on the smaller side, as well."

Tobio ceased his staring about the house to stare at Hinata, instead. "Good thing _you_ are, then."

Hinata turned to him, open mouthed, hugging the rooster to his chest. _"Oy—_ how's that a way to treat the one taking you in off the street?"

"I wasn't _on the street,_ " Tobio said. "An arrangement was made. I was to be delivered into your care. And I don't think I will know how to treat you, until you've gotten your—" Tobio waved his hands in Hinata's general direction. "—your rooster in a more decent state."

Hinata looked at Red. "He's harmless, though."

"Not—" Tobio could feel a vein in his forehead twitching. _"Put on some clothes._ "

"Oh," Hinata said. Then, "Oh! Sorry, I hadn't even noticed—give me a minute." He plopped Red down on a nearby table and disappeared into the bedroom. His voice floated out of it. "You can stow your things in the sitting room, by the way. I was going to make that up into a second bedroom, but like I said—"

"You forgot."

"Right," Hinata confirmed. "It won't take long. And it looks like you didn't bring much with you? Kind of expected more of that, too, since you're rich and all—"

"I'm not," Tobio said. Disconcertingly, Red was staring at him, buggy eyes unblinking. Tobio glared, and the rooster gobbled softly.

"Well, maybe you don't think so," Hinata said. "But you're from one of those noble families, so—"

"Not anymore," Tobio interrupted, curtly.

"What, like, you'll never see them again?" Hinata popped his head out of the doorway. He still appeared to be pantsless. "They adopted you, though, didn't they?"

"They were my wards until I came of age to be married," Tobio said. "That age has come and gone, and I am clearly still unwed. They owe me nothing further."

Hinata's eyebrows climbed toward his hairline as Tobio spoke. "That's how they do things, huh?"

"Who's 'they'?" Tobio asked. "What things?"

"The nobles, and what not. The important people," Hinata said, as he disappeared back into the room. "Either you meet their expectations, or they want nothing more to do with you. I've always thought that seemed pretty cold."

It was odd, that Hinata spoke about such things like he was so familiar with them. What he said wasn't untrue. But it wasn't something Tobio faulted anyone for.

"It's easier," he said.  

"Sure," Hinata replied. "Well, anyway, the point is that I can get that set up pretty quickly. Then I can show you the shop, and what I'll need your help with. We'll take a few days to get you up to speed. And I'll show you the village, and all, to help you get your bearings."

"Oh," Tobio said. He hadn't quite expected the other man to go to such lengths. "Alright."

"None of it's familiar, right?" Hinata asked. He stepped back out of his room, now fully dressed.

"No," Tobio said. "I was a baby when they adopted me."

He watched Hinata, as the other man shook out the bottom of his shirt. It hung loosely on him, plain white cotton. It was less difficult to look at him, now that he wasn't on _full_ display. He was on the small side, it was true, but there was a wiry strength to his compact body, toned arms and stomach, that Tobio caught a glimpse of as Hinata gathered his shirt up to tuck it into his pants. His unruly, wavy hair he pulled into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck with a short length of leather cord. Tobio tilted his head, finding this curious. All of the court men kept their hair cut too short to tie back.

"Right, right," Hinata was saying absently. "I guess it makes sense, then, if they're just dropping you back here. I was surprised, at first. I didn't think they'd let a Lamb stay with me as easily as that."

"Why?" Tobio asked.

Hinata laughed. "Because of what I am."

"A blacksmith?" Tobio asked, confused.

"No." Hinata cocked his head to the side. "A Wolf."

"Oh," Tobio said. And then he realized. "Hang on—say that again?"

Hinata frowned at him. "Say what again?"

"You're a…"

"Blacksmith?"

"No!" Tobio shouted. "You're a _Wolf?!"_

"Yes?" Hinata said, sounding bewildered. "You didn't know?"

Tobio gaped at him. No, he hadn't known. He hadn't had a single clue—Wolves could tell Lambs apart easily thanks to their heightened senses, but Lambs couldn't instinctively pick a Wolf out of a crowd. It was easier at court, where many of the higher ranking military members were Wolves, and Wolf nobles and royals flaunted their status in ways both subtle and proud, depending on the person. And of course, this was where one expected to find Wolves most often, prowling among prey of the highest stock.

He knew, also, that it became possible for a Lamb to tell from scent cues, during periods of heightened arousal, or when given a direct command from a Wolf. But he'd never experienced those things firsthand.

"I thought they must have told you," Hinata said. "I thought you already knew, I—ah, okay, look. If this won't work, then… everyone in town knows me, I can talk to some people, see if they have need of an assistant—"

"No," Tobio said roughly. He cleared his throat. "No, it's fine. I was just surprised."

He was more than a little surprised, in fact. Though they weren't as rare as Lambs, Wolves like Hinata still tended to operate under castle rule in some way. Hardy and strong, they were always good to have on hand, and most common-born Wolves found work easily as castle guards, often rising to the knighthood. Wolves among the nobility always courted Lambs, and were given first pick of the stock, after the royal family. Matches between high ranking Wolves and castle-raised Lambs were prized, given the former's inclination to leadership and the latter's natural diplomatic abilities.

So it came as a shock to find one here, in such a backwater village; but Tobio resolved to shake that off. Because it was, after all just some village, some tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Court rules and decorum didn't apply out here. It made no difference, if he was to live under the same roof as a Wolf. No one would care.

Perhaps that was the message they were trying to send him, anyway.

"Are you sure?" Hinata asked.

Tobio looked up at him. Hinata was hovering, almost, brow furrowed and expression worried. Tobio fought the urge to wrinkle his nose. This man was strange, he could tell that much. He'd never met a Wolf so oddly  _concerned,_ so scattered and unrefined. Not that Tobio was one for refinement, but it set his teeth on edge.

"I'm sure," he said, with finality. Whether or not his decision was based around stubbornness, he didn't care. He thought he could hear the echoes of whispered taunts, ringing in his ears— _ram, ram, thick-headed Lamb—_ but he ignored them. He was, simply put, tired of having to move his life around for the convenience of Wolves who didn't want to deal with him.

Hinata, for his part, nodded, and then smiled at him suddenly. Tobio blinked at the brightness of it.

"Alright, then!" Hinata said. "Let's put away your things, and then—I can show you the shop!"

Tobio sighed. "Sounds… great."

He was here now, for better or worse. Hinata would have to put up with it, and he with Hinata.

*

"That's twenty coppers, if you're wondering."

The man to which Tobio was speaking, an older, slightly portly gentleman, looked over from the gleaming cutlery set he'd been admiring.

"Scuse me?"

Tobio set down the rag and iron stove pot he'd been cleaning. He was a few days into his new position as storekeeper and shop assistant to Hinata. All in all, it wasn't bad work. There was enough to do to keep him busy—seeing to people who came by the shop, organizing and cataloguing wares, keeping everything tidy and clean. He'd also started an inventory of his own, learning where everything was, and its estimated value. He had quite a good idea for most items; or so he thought.

"That set," Tobio said, pointing. "That is twenty copper pieces, for the entire thing. I just thought you'd like to know, as you've come back to it now for a third time."

That man blinked at him. "Who… are you?"

"I'm the shop assistant," Tobio told him.

"Huh…" the man said. "And, you say this is twenty coppers? _Twenty?"_

"I do," Tobio said.

"Do I look like a duke to you, boy?" the man asked, incredulous.

"No," Tobio said. "Perhaps you should consider another cutlery set."

The man's mouth fell open. In the next moment, a loud shout was issuing forth from it. "Smith! OY, SMITHEE, where are ya—"

A loud clattering and clanking announced Hinata's arrival. He hurried into view with a towering armful of ironware, pots, horseshoes, fire irons. He had taken the past few days off of metalworking to show Tobio how to shopkeep. While he wasn't demonstrating, he had been using the downtime to organize the rest of the forge.

"I'm here!" he yelped, nearly tripping over an abandoned bellows on the ground. "I'm—oh, afternoon, Fletch. What's the problem?"

"Your new shop assistant," the man, who Tobio realized must be the town's fletcher, wryly informed him.

"Oh?" Hinata looked over at Tobio, who met his gaze blankly. "What's he done?"

"He's told me that this set here is twenty coppers," Fletch said, holding up the item in question.

Hinata let out a startled laugh. "That? That's five."

"There we are," the fletcher grunted.

But Tobio let out an indignant splutter of, _"Five?_ Are you stu—serious?"

"I am serious," Hinata said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"That's—" Tobio looked at him, and then held out his hand to Fletch. "Give that to me. Let me see it."

With an expression of great skepticism, the man deposited the cutlery in his hand. Tobio laid it out on its cloth on the small table he was working at. He pointed at the different pieces—the sharpened knives and spoons of varying sizes, the gleaming handles.

"This is good work," he said, frowning. "The detailing on the stems? That's not easy to achieve with steel. And the knife blades—the way those are honed will ensure they stay sharp for a long time without any work required on your part. The hilts are grooved so they're easy to hold, for any hand size. It's a family size set, so this means thought was given to the fact that children may use them." He looked up at the fletcher. "If this were being bartered near the castle, it would be sold for at least two _silver_ pieces."

"We aren't near the castle, are we?" Fletch said, but it was an offhanded comment. He was staring at the set now, rubbing a hand at his chin. Tobio sat back and crossed his arms, casting a smug glance at Hinata.

But the expression on the Wolf's face was not what he expected.

Hinata was looking at him curiously, almost as though he was studying him, in the same way Tobio had analyzed the set. His eyes trailed over Tobio's face, and Tobio felt his cheeks heating under the other man's gaze.

Fletch opened his mouth to say something, but Hinata spoke before he had a chance.

"It's five coppers," he said again. His mouth quirked into a small smile when Tobio's mouth fell open. "Want it?"

"I'll take it," Fletch said. "Ours barely cuts anymore and the spoons near have holes in 'em."

Hinata laughed. "Wrap it up for him, will you, Kageyama?"

Wordlessly, Tobio did as asked. But when he presented the package to the fletcher, the man accepted it, and then dropped eight coppers into the palm of Hinata's hand. Hinata looked at him questioningly.

"Boy's right," the man grunted. "It's good work, Smith."

"I'm not a boy," Tobio said, wrinkling his nose. He wasn't much younger than Hinata.

Hinata grinned and the fletcher laughed. "You're right, I suppose," he said. "You're that Lamb, aren't you? That's where all your fancy knowledge comes from."

Tobio shrugged, willing his voice not to snap in annoyance. "It's not fancy."

"Not at all." Fletch nodded to them both, and sent a wink in Hinata's direction. "You take good care of this one then, eh?"

Tobio bristled, but before he could interject, Hinata was saying, "He seems to be taking care of me." He waved goodbye to the man. "Thanks for the business."

He was still chuckling after it was just the two of them left in the shop, but said nothing. Tobio finally cracked, annoyed.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You are," Hinata told him. "Twenty copper pieces for a set of spoons? If you're not sure about pricing, you can come get me."

"There were things besides spoons," Tobio said. "And I _was_ sure."

Hinata snorted. He sat himself down on the table Tobio was working at, leaning over to watch as Tobio wiped down more of his wares with the rag. "People here can't afford to pay as much as some noble for something as basic as dishware, Kageyama."

"It wasn't basic," Tobio protested, setting down his rag. "You made the damn things. You know that!"

"I do know that," Hinata said, with a smile.

"Then why are you charging so little for them?" Tobio asked. "Or, why even bother making something that nice at all?"

"Because I enjoy it, every now and again," Hinata said easily. "And I don't charge more, because otherwise no one could buy it. Now the fletcher's family has a nice set of spoons— _and_ other things, yes, alright! And I've gotten paid. Everyone's happy. What's the issue?"

Tobio stared at him. When put that simply… there was no issue. If Hinata was alright with it, then it was all well and good. The issue, then, was that Tobio couldn't wrap his head around it. In the courts, it was the opposite. It was vital for the lords and ladies, to always receive their due, or else everything came to a standstill while those conditions waited to be met.

Now he was faced with this odd person (and a Wolf, even), who let things go so easily, who didn't demand what he was owed, and instead asked for less. Because it was better for those around him.

"Are you interested?" Hinata asked, and Tobio realized he'd been frowning down at the table for quite some time. He looked up again, to meet Hinata's eyes. "In this sort of thing, I mean. I wouldn't think that was something they'd been set on you learning."

"I'm…" Tobio shook his head. "It was something for me to do, growing up. It wouldn't have been proper for me to learn myself, but I always liked watching the smiths work. Gold and silver, too."

Hinata's eyes lit up. "It's amazing, isn't it?" he asked. "I've never been any good with finer metals. Not quite skilled enough. But…" He bit his lip, suddenly lost in thought.

He had a soft mouth, Tobio realized. A little chapped, because nobody in the village saw much need to keep up appearances, unlike the castle dwellers. But plump, bowed lips, the bottom one pinched red as he pulled it through his teeth, contemplatively. His features in general were a little fine for a Wolf, small nose that turned up at the end, cheeks still a bit round though he was well into adulthood, though these were offset by a slim, well-defined jawline. His eyelashes were long and fine and fire red.

"But what?" he asked, swallowing a sudden hoarseness in his voice.

"I think the _best_ thing," Hinata said softly, "is a wellmade sword. Isn't it?"

Tobio thought back to his days spent in the vast forges of the city, so different to this quiet place where home and hearth were one. He remembered the ringing of hammers on metal, the sizzle of hot iron in water, the sharp singing of a sword as it was pulled from its scabbard for the first time. The way it shined in the firelight.

"It's not… something you'd have much use for out here," he said slowly, and Hinata nodded, with a wistful sigh.

"You're right about that," he said. "So, I waste my time making fancy knives, instead."

Tobio felt a smile edging onto his face, and coughed. "At least I got you a _little_ more coin for them. Which is good, since you're supposed to be feeding me."

"And you're supposed to not be scaring off people who come into the shop by inflating my prices." Hinata hopped off the table, dodging as Tobio swatted at him. "Anyways, speaking of food—you could be a bit useful and go see the grocer, because I've got nothing for supper tonight."

"Why am I not surprised?" Tobio grumbled.

"Here," Hinata said, grabbing Tobio's hand. His were smaller than Tobio's, but strong; calloused and warm. Tobio uncurled his fingers, palm up in Hinata's own, and Hinata dropped several of the copper pieces into it. "A little extra! Get something tasty."

Tobio poked at the coins with his finger. "You realize that we can only _afford_ this much because I—"

"Get!" Hinata yelled, grabbing the cleaning rag before Tobio could snatch it back. He whipped it at Tobio, who yelped and covered his head with his arms. "Go, assistant! Away with you!"

"You just don't want to admit it!" Tobio shouted, nearly overturning his chair as he tried to escape Hinata's onslaught. "Hinata, no!"

He was driven from the house amidst the sound of the towel whipping through the air and Hinata cackling, and the indignity of Red clucking loudly after him as he fled.  

When he returned, it was already evening, the sky turning dusky as he walked down the path to the forge. He was still getting used to the village, but the grocer's shop had been one of the many places about town Hinata had taken him, and they'd recognized him and been very helpful. The two daughters, in particular, had seemed very interested in hearing how Tobio had been getting along with Hinata so far, how Hinata was doing, what it was like working for Hinata—in general, they seemed very interested in Hinata, though Tobio, having only known the blacksmith for a short few days, was not sure his answers were truly sufficient. 

He unlocked the door to the back of the house with the spare set of keys Hinata had given him, balancing the grocer's goods in one arm as he pushed it open.

"Hinata!" he called. "Come help with these, I don't know where to—put them…" Tobio trailed off as he stopped, standing inside the doorway.

He smelled something. A strong, hot scent, that didn't so much waft around him as it sprang right at him, now that he was inside, rough and potent. It was the forge smell, fire and wood burning and molten smoldering metal, but somehow  _more._  It was strange. Powerful. Overwhelming.

"Coming, one second," Hinata called, and Tobio felt a little tug behind his navel, almost a perking up, of sorts, like a pup that had heard the call of its master. He turned, as Hinata entered the room from the forge.

His mouth went dry. Hinata had a smudged towel draped around his neck, but was otherwise uncovered from the waist up. He dragged the towel from his shoulders to wipe his hands—his fingers were stained by soot and grease, and his arms and bare chest and stomach had been dusted with the dark substances as well. It made the clean tracks caused by rolling streaks of perspiration stand out all the more on his body. Despite his smaller stature, he was built _strong—_ veins threading the glistening skin of his forearms, grooved abdomen tapering to hips that cut sharply below the waistline of his pants, softened by the light crop of fine, red-gold hairs that trailed down to where Tobio could no longer see.

Hinata didn't seem to notice him staring, at first. "Sorry, I decided to get a little work in! Let me just clean up a bit and I'll show you—" He cut off, abruptly, looking confused. "What is that?"

It took Tobio a moment to realize he was expected to respond. "…What?"

"What did you buy?" Hinata asked. "What smells so good?"

Tobio did not know how to respond to this, in his haze of confusion. He didn't know what Hinata was smelling—it had already been in the house when he'd walked in. Hinata took a slow step toward him, and he froze, watching as the Wolf got closer. He could feel his nerves tingling, but due to what, he didn't know.

Hinata reached him, and took the groceries out of his arms. But he barely glanced at them. Instead, he set them aside as he got closer still, and Tobio clasped his hands together, fingers twisting, and Hinata murmured,

"It's you."

A tiny noise escaped Tobio's throat. It was unintentional and unexpected, a soft whine; suddenly, Hinata was tilting his head up, and Tobio, without thinking, leaned down to meet him, expelling a sigh from his lungs as he hesitantly pressed his face into Hinata's bright hair, and Hinata trailed the tip of his nose against Tobio's neck.

"I can… smell you," the Wolf said, a little awed, and Tobio realized the reverse was true as well. Whatever he was smelling, that hot, smoky scent—that was Hinata.

Tobio whimpered again, relaxing only when Hinata slid a reassuring hand into his hair. He bowed his head to rest his cheek against Hinata's forehead, breathing deep inhales of his skin. He had never done this before, never. Not only because of the enormous breach of social conduct, in casually letting a Wolf who had professed no interest in courting him scent him this way; but also because he had never met one who had ever found his scent pleasing.

Hinata thought he smelled good?

"I'm—mmhh—" Tobio mumbled, but Hinata's next question froze his attempt at speaking entirely.

"Are you… wet?" Hinata asked. The words were the slowest, quietest breath, whispered into Tobio's ear. "Is that what that is?"

Tobio stopped breathing. "N-no—"

"Tobio," Hinata said, and Tobio couldn't help but hang on his words, even as his heart pounded in his chest, like it wanted him to run away with it. "Are you wet for me?"

With a great effort, Tobio stumbled back, away from him. He needed distance. This wasn't possible. He had never, in his entire life, felt that way about anyone, least of all a _Wolf._

But there was a warmth in the pit of his stomach, and a heaviness between his legs—and now that his attention was brought to it, he _ached_. He felt empty and needy and _wet._

 _"No,_ " he choked, shaking his head.

"Please… don't lie to me…" Hinata said softly, and Tobio squeezed his eyes shut and gasped.

Hinata hadn't ever sounded like that before. His voice sent heat and shivers, both, racing up Tobio's spine.

"I can't," he said through gritted teeth.

"Can't what?" Hinata asked, still quiet, but there was something coaxing in it now. It made Tobio raise his head, though it was with great difficulty. Hinata approached him carefully, gazing at him with eyes lidded, blinking slowly. When he was near enough, he raised a hand and brushed his fingers lightly over Tobio's cheek, tongue wetting his soft lips, and Tobio groaned.

"I… can't lie to you," he told Hinata. "I can't." He'd been taught it was in his nature—obeying the command of a Wolf. But at the castle, it was largely forbidden, for a Wolf to order a Lamb that was unbound to them. It had never happened to him before.

He'd never experienced an urge as strong as what he was feeling right now. It wasn't just a compulsion—it was a need. He wanted Hinata to ask. He needed to tell him; he needed to give Hinata whatever the Wolf wanted.

But Hinata blinked, and the fog in his eyes cleared. And then he was drawing back, away from Tobio, even as Tobio leaned toward him unsteadily.

"O-oh," Hinata said, stepping back even further. "I don't—I don't want that." He shook his head, running his hands over his face. "I mean, I don't _want_ you to lie to me, but I also don't want to force you to tell me— _dammit."_

Tobio stared at him, eyes wide, wondering what had changed.

"It's—Tobio, don't look at me like that," Hinata said. "It makes me— _don't."_

And the tension snapped, for Tobio, too. He sagged, then slumped, in one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

"Water," Tobio rasped. "I need—I need something to drink—" His throat felt parched, as though he'd been out in the heat for days.

Without a word, Hinata hurried away, but in a few moments, was bustling back over to him. He'd put on a shirt, Tobio noticed. And he had a metal cup in hand, filled with water, that he thrust at Tobio. Tobio took it, and tipped it back against his mouth so greedily that much of it was wasted, spilling over his chin and throat as he gulped it down.

"Messy," Hinata muttered. He reached out, and Tobio blinked at him, as Hinata swiped the back of his hand over his cheeks and chin, clearing away some of the excess water. Tobio closed his eyes, and tried to even his breathing.

"I'm… sorry," he managed to say in a measured enough tone, though he knew his face must be red enough to give him away.

"Oh, it's—" Hinata stopped, and Tobio looked at him. The other man was staring at him with an expression of obvious concern. "What was that, just then? Why all of sudden—"

"You," Tobio floundered, "you smelled—" _Amazing. Addicting. Like the best thing I've ever—_ "like shit!"

Hinata's eyes widened, before he suddenly burst out laughing. "You really _can't_ lie to me, either way."

Tobio glared at him before crossing his arms, staring resolutely away. Yes, the Wolf would know by his heartbeat whether or not he was telling the truth. He stubbornly did not care.

"I'm not lying," he said, and Hinata let out another bright peal of delighted laughter.

"Hmm, okay." He grinned down at Tobio, spreading his hands apologetically. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry, too. I had no idea that could, uh, happen."

"You sweat a lot," Tobio said disdainfully.

"Everyone sweats a lot during hard manual labor," Hinata said, rolling his eyes.

The thing was, Tobio had known this. At castle gatherings, a fairly popular and somewhat scandalous hobby for Lambs was to watch the guard or military Wolves during training. Even in the open air courtyards, their scents carried, and there was much flirtation to be had.

But Tobio had never been affected by it, not to any great degree. At most, he'd enjoyed the fresh air and the fairly pleasant aromas tingling his nose, but it had been similar to smelling a nice meal wafting on the breeze, or a fine perfume. In the same way his scent was lacking to those Wolves, so in turn were their smells to him. He had expected Hinata to be the same. He'd been wrong.

He'd never experienced anything like the raw bite of this Wolf's scent. Nothing like this, that made him want to choke on it, suck it down, swallow it up and come back for more. The thought made him shiver again.

"So…" Hinata spoke into the silence, "I'm not sure this is going to… work?"

Tobio looked up at him. "What won't?"

"This," Hinata said, gesturing between them. "I can't stop smithing. And I will have to during the day. What will you do?"

"I'll just…" Tobio hadn't considered this.

"Look," Hinata said, "I know a lot of good people in this village. I told you, we can talk to some of them, see if they can—"

"What?" Tobio blurted, stunned. "No!"

 _"Why?"_ Hinata asked, baffled. "This is uncomfortable for you, isn't it? It would be simple enough—"

"Stop trying to get rid of me!" Tobio said, nearly a shout, and Hinata fell silent. "I'm doing the best I—" But his voice cracked, then, finally overworked. He shut his mouth, staring at his lap, fists clenched on his knees.

He couldn't believe it. He'd barely lasted a week, and already, he was an inconvenience. A difficult embarrassment to be shuffled onto the next person willing to be saddled with him.

Hinata knelt down. When Tobio wouldn't look at him, he poked at the Lamb's knee, until Tobio begrudgingly made eye contact.

"I'm not trying to get rid of you," Hinata told him. "I'm trying to help."

Tobio snorted. "This is why I hate Wolves."

"Oh, you hate me, do you?" Hinata asked.

 _"All_ Wolves," Tobio said, petulant in his embarrassment. It felt true in that moment. His life had certainly never been made easier on account of a Wolf.

Hinata didn't argue, or try to defend himself. Instead, he tilted his head, curious. "Why's that?"

"You always think you're right," Tobio grumbled.

Hinata hummed. "So you're saying that this, right now, is the best situation for you?"

Tobio shrugged. "It's… I don't know," he admitted. "But I don't want to just give up already. I'll manage it, somehow."

"Alright," Hinata said. He stood up, and Tobio stared up at him as he stretched. "Well, if that's what you want."

An acceptance that simple, Tobio had not expected. "You're—that's it? You're fine with it? With me?" he asked.

"I said I'd let you stay here," Hinata said. "I won't go back on my word." He clapped Tobio on the shoulder. "Why don't we both clean up, then, and figure out dinner?"

It was to be as easy as that, it seemed.

"Yes," Tobio nodded. "Alright."

He helped Hinata gather the groceries again to put them away. He still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the other man, but he was beginning to wonder whether he could harbor the same frustration for him that he did for other Wolves. Hinata was too different for that. 

*

That night, Tobio dreamed.

He had always had vivid dreams, since the time he was a child. Often abstract, yet never too hard to understand, no matter how dense everyone always believed him to be.

There was one dream he'd had, many times. It was a dream he hated. Not a nightmare, it didn't frighten him—but it reminded him, without fail, of who he was. What he wasn't.

In the dream, he walked through the castle, alone. There were people around, but all of them had their backs to him. He could see no one's face. It was quiet. But every once in awhile, he caught murmurs, whispered conversation.

_"…such a waste…"_

_"…taken in by such a good family, too…"_

_"…not a cheap education either, it's only a matter of time…"_

Whenever he looked to try and see who was talking, he caught glances, heads turning away from him out of the corner of his eye, always just on the edge of his vision. Always, he was being watched and judged. It was only the social constructs that forced people to lower their voices.

_"…hardly call him a lamb…"_

_"More like Ram…"_

_"No one wants you here…"_

He walked the halls faster, began to run, whether to escape or confront the whispers he didn't know. There were more and more people as he ran through the halls, more backs turned against him, more voices added until the whispers were loud enough to fill the castle up to its ceilings, hissing shouts that drummed upon his ears.

_"…loud, angry Ram…"_

_"…ugly, big, mean Ram…"_

_"…stupid, unlovable,_ broken—"

And finally he would open his mouth, to shout at them. But what could he say? The voices were not wrong. Everything they said was truth, nothing more nothing less.

And as he understood that, every time, in his dream, the ground would split at his feet, open up a dark, yawning chasm, widening so fast and so terribly that the whole of the castle was suddenly swept away from him, and he from the castle.

That was when he would find himself in the pitch dark woods. Completely on his own.

And then the wolves came for him.

He stood frozen, unable to move—not in terror, but in anticipation. He could hear their growling, see their shadowed forms slinking through the dark trees. Their eyes glowed, dozens, maybe hundreds of pairs of yellow glimmering spots of light, all he could see of them.

Always, he was being watched. Always, he would be judged.

They came no closer. They never moved to attack him, nor did they tire of their prey once they'd caught it. He wished they would leap to tear him apart, or abandon him, but they never did.

And slowly, he crumbled under their gazes. He was pressed to his knees by the weight on his shoulders. He was exhausted, tired of always falling short in pleasing them all.

This was how the dream always ended. In his rejection.

But not tonight.

That night, a wolf came forward.

It was smaller than the usual grey or black varieties. Its coat was reddish, rusty; he couldn't make it out that well in the dark.

But its eyes he could see. They were bright and clear, more gold than yellow. The wolf stared at him, and he stared back. It did not look like it wanted to threaten him. It looked almost curious.

 _"Why?"_ he asked it, though he did not believe it would have an answer.

* * *

He woke. He was lying on his makeshift bed in back of the forge in Hinata's house. It was still dark.

The wolf—he remembered it in a flash of clarity, in that odd way dreams resurfaced. Parts of it murky as usual, but others crystal clear. Like the red wolf's eyes. He had been able to breathe easier, when it had shown itself.

It hadn't watched him like the others. There had been interest, yes; but somehow, he'd felt a lack of expectations.

But that was typical with dreams. Feeling without knowing why. Blearily, he rubbed the heel of his hand against his eyes, and then realized, his hair had been swept off his forehead. Curious, he brushed his fingers through it, and thought that gesture felt familiar. But he couldn't remember anyone having done that for him before. He hadn't known anyone to be so soft with him in his life.

A grunt from the adjacent bedroom startled him so much it almost made him laugh. That must have been what had woken him in the first place. He turned over onto his side, already feeling sleepy again as Hinata began to snore away in his sleep. Tobio realized he seemed to somehow be managing to get used to the sound.

"Idiot Hinata," he grumbled. The insult was comfortable on his tongue.

Very few things had ever been comfortable for him, when it came to other people.

But maybe, he thought, he was getting used to this, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **To folks reading this verse for the first time:** this fic is actually (kind of) an AU of one of my older fics, [Hunger](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6850228/chapters/15635998)! In that story, Hinata is the Lamb, and Kageyama is the Wolf, but the entire rest of the plot is different -- so you won't spoil this one if you want to read it :)
> 
> [I'm [@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to share this _extremely_... smoldering... [Blacksmith Hinata](https://shamelesssparkles.tumblr.com/post/165218684997/esselley-its-you-i-can-smell-you-hinata) @shamelesssparkles drew for this fic last week. He is perfect!!! 
> 
> Thank you all so much for the enthusiasm and excitement so far for this story ^^

"Thank you for your patronage," Tobio said to the cobbler, handing the woman her packaged goods.

"Of course, of course," she said. "We always like to support the smith. How are things coming along for the shop?"

Tobio tried to keep his grimace off his face. The day was nearly done, and he was in no mood for small talk. "They're going well," he said, words slipping through his gritted teeth.

The cobbler peered at him. "And you?" she asked. "Hope you don't mind my saying… but you look a little pale. You're not ill, are you?"

Tobio shook his head, and felt it start swimming. "I'm fine," he said. "Sorry, I've got to start closing up the shop, now. Will that be all?" He was aware that his bluntness was rude, but she laughed, seeming to take no offense.

This seemed to be a running theme amongst the townsfolk. Perhaps people in small villages were just more used to encountering rudeness, was the conclusion at which Tobio had arrived. Whatever the case, no one had yet to be taken aback by his demeanor. It was a welcome change to castle life.

"You warn that man I'll be checking in on you, then," she said with a wave, and left out the front door.

Tobio waited a moment, and then, sure that she was gone, he retreated. He went through the house and out the door in back, opening it with a bang as he stepped hurriedly outside, breathing in several deep lungfuls of air. He wiped his sweating face as he willed his heartbeat to slow. He was exhausted.

It had been a week since that first uncomfortable episode, a full seven days since Tobio had discovered for the first time what it felt like to be utterly enthralled by a Wolf. If he'd thought it would get easier, that had been wishful thinking at best. Mornings before the shop opened and evenings once they finished were fine. It was the time in between, the work day, that was purely torture.

Though he and Hinata worked mainly separately from each other, Tobio in the shop and Hinata at the forge, the scant distance made no difference. Day after day after day, it would come—Hinata's scent, growing stronger as he labored over the hot fires and glowing irons, filling the space until Tobio's head and senses were clouded with it, and he was swimming through a fog of temptation.

It rattled him a bit, this lack of control that had suddenly invaded his life. He had never felt drawn like this to another, had tried to tell himself he was above the silliness of the other Lambs he’d known, losing their heads over every well-bred Wolf who’d looked their way. He didn’t need all that, the flirtation or the longing or the desire to give himself to someone else, just because he was Lamb, and they were Wolf. 

This bonding—the union—was a celebrated notion among their kind. The greatest culmination of it, that Tobio had learned of when he had begun to mature, was the Claiming: when a Lamb lay with a Wolf during its heat, the Wolf could Claim the Lamb as its own with its bite. At the moment of release, the strongest bond would form between them, the two of them connected from that point forward, forever.

Though he had been expected to follow this path, Tobio couldn’t imagine a worse fate.

The problem now was that he could imagine Hinata all too well, picture the Wolf clear in his mind: hair pulled back, exposing the nape of his neck, where his skin would be damp with sweat. Perspiration running down his forehead and the lines of his jaw, too, the lean muscles flexing in his arms and stomach, the warm expressive eyes focused on his work.

He could just as easily picture Hinata looking like that, eyes focused on Tobio, instead. Lips pulled back into a mischievous grin as he teased and maybe touched—and Tobio would let him in—

"Kageyama?"

Tobio jumped, turning back to face the door where Hinata had appeared.

"Y-yes?"

"I'm nearly done in here. Just give me a few more minutes?" He glanced at Tobio uncertainly. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Tobio said gruffly.

Hinata sighed. "You're not, though."

"Why even bother asking if you're just going to sense me lie, anyway?" Tobio asked, annoyed.

"Why even lie if you know I'm going to sense it?" Hinata shot back. "Anyway, I didn't need to sense anything to know you're not fine. It's obvious. People in town keep asking me if I let you get any sleep."

Tobio smacked his hands over his eyes in lack of a proper response, mortified.

"Not like—not because we're—!" Hinata sputtered. "They want to know if I'm overworking you! They think I have you counting inventory all night, or something." He squinted at Tobio. "You look like you've got the pox."

"I do not!" Tobio hissed.

"Well, you look terrible, then, if you don't like specifics," Hinata said wryly. "Tobio, this isn't working as it is now, you've got to—"

"I'm not going to leave," Tobio insisted. "I'm figuring out a way—"

"You need to take breaks," Hinata said loudly.

Tobio stared at him. "What? What would that do—"

"You need to _take breaks,_ " Hinata said again, slowly. "When it gets to be too much." He seemed to be trying to make something clear to Tobio.

"For fresh air?" Tobio guessed.

"No, you need to—" Hinata dragged a hand over his face. "You need to take a break, take care of the problem, and then _come_ … back to work."

"Take care of what problem?" Tobio asked.

"You need to come!" Hinata yelled. "So you're not on edge all the time!"

Tobio opened his mouth in a silent scream.

"You can't just keep it all pent up," Hinata went on, "it's like a dam, right? And this is worse than usual, I guess, so it's an overflowing dam. You have to make a hole in the dam—"

"Holes in dams are _bad,_ " Tobio said.

"No, _listen—_ okay, you're right, that was a bad example, but the point is, if you don't get off more often, you're probably going to die."

"What?!" Tobio shouted.

"I'm not an expert!" Hinata said as a disclaimer. "But anyway, you'll feel better, at least, and—wait, you _have_ done it before, haven't you?"

"Y-yes!" Tobio choked. "But there's—nowhere to do it, and you'll _know—_ "

"I _already_ know," Hinata said, "I can _smell everything!"_

Tobio turned away from him and thudded his head against the wall of the house. This was the most embarrassing conversation he'd ever had in his life. But to his dismay, Hinata wasn't saying anything that _didn't_ make sense.

"Okay," he finally mumbled. "I'll… I'll try. I'll try to do it."

"I don't think you're going to have to try very hard, honestly," Hinata said, as Tobio groaned. "I just think it'll make things easier. For both of us."

"How will it make things easier for _you?"_ Tobio grumbled.

"Ah, well…" Hinata averted his eyes suddenly. "It's… look, I'm not upset with you or anything, I'll say that first. It’s just that it can be—distracting. For me, too. Sometimes."

If Tobio had thought the conversation could not get any worse, he'd clearly been mistaken. "Oh," he said. _"Oh."_

He'd been so caught up in his own distress that he'd forgotten entirely how the situation might be affecting Hinata. He would almost have written it off, except he couldn't deny that Hinata had clearly been caught, too, that first time everything had started to slide downhill. And as Hinata had said, he could smell everything—especially when Tobio was...

He turned slowly to face Hinata. "S-sorry," he said. "For the inconvenience. I'll take care of it from now on, it won't be a problem anymore."

Hinata opened his mouth, and then closed it again with a sigh, like he'd thought better of what he was about to say. "I guess that's about as much as either of us can ask for, isn't it?" he said, with a laugh.

"Yes," Tobio confirmed.

"Great," Hinata said. "Well, why don't we go into town for food tonight, then? Let it air out a bit more. The inn's got a good stew on fifth weekdays…"

"I like stew," Tobio said agreeably, and Hinata grinned at him.

"Then stew it is," he proclaimed.

*

There was a customer in the shop; one of the townspeople who was a regular at the tavern, but whose name Tobio couldn't remember. The man was a haggler, and seemed determined to argue with Tobio on every item. Tobio stared at him, and didn't hear a single word.

Hinata was humming while he worked that day. He did this often, sometimes clear, silly, happy tunes, but other times, like now—low, absent-minded, purring out of him like heated honey.

It made Tobio's blood pound within his skull and between his ears. He was entirely too warm, and his stomach felt simultaneously painfully full and empty, and his legs felt shaky, and most overwhelmingly of all—he couldn't think about _anything_ other than Hinata.

Hinata, and the way he somehow never seemed cruel when he laughed at Tobio, although everyone else had always been. The way he talked, light and lively and sometimes too fast, especially when excited. The way he made physical contact so easy, while at the same time every touch was like a bolt of storm lightning, racing out from the point he'd touched Tobio, down his spine, curling slowly in the pit of his stomach.

And even though it made him ache, he only wanted Hinata to touch him again, and again.

All of these feelings had become normal to him, now. Since they'd begun living under the same roof, and _especially_ since Hinata had begun working in earnest, Tobio hadn't stopped feeling this way.

But now, unlike at the beginning, he'd discovered a way to deal with it.

"Sorry," Tobio said, cutting the man off mid-sentence, "but I've got to take a break."

He ignored the indignant spluttering that followed him as he bolted from the room, calling out to Hinata as he went.

"Need a moment!"

Though he couldn't see Hinata, the low chuckle he heard from the forge singed in his belly.

"Make it quick," Hinata said. He sounded out of breath, warmly teasing, and even without his words being an indirect order, they would have been followed.

"It's going to be," Tobio mumbled to himself, though it was entirely possible Hinata could still hear him.

His space in Hinata's home lacked much privacy, but Hinata knew not to venture there unannounced and the shop's customers didn't pretend to be familiar enough to snoop into someone's house. Tobio crawled onto the soft couch cushions where he slept on shaky hands and knees, shoving his pants off his hips as he went until he felt the air hit his skin. He rolled over onto his back and pushed his hand down in between his legs.

He covered his mouth with his arm and groaned. Every time—somehow, the same release of heat and tension was good every time.

Tobio tried not to think about Hinata while he did this. But he was never very successful. By the time he reached the end, mouth pressed into the crook of his elbow to muffle any sounds, sleeve damp with spit, he was long gone, imagining the hand moving over his cock in long, firm strokes belonged to none other than the blacksmith. Strong, and calloused, and perhaps a little too rough, too fast, and all the better for it. Hinata's hands would feel so much better on him than his own.

By the time he had finished, however, he was fine. He lay panting, entire body shuddering as he tried to catch his breath and force Hinata from his mind. He was fine, now.

This was fine.

He cleaned up and emerged back out into the shop, to find Hinata had seen to the man and was just bidding him come back again. He turned as Tobio entered.

"Alright?" he asked, sounding genuinely interested in Tobio's wellbeing, though the corner of his mouth was upturned. Tobio could smell him still, but it was kept at bay, not able to overpower all his senses—yet.

"Shut up," Tobio said, nudging him in the side. Hinata nudged back, starting to grin.

"I was right though, wasn't I?" Hinata needled.

"I'm not talking about this with you," Tobio said.

It annoyed him that Hinata _had_ been right. About some things, at least. But he'd also said it would make Tobio feel better, and while it certainly did, for a little while, it never quite felt like enough.

In fact, with every time he had to take care of it, it seemed like it might actually be getting worse in the moments before—or perhaps not worse, but _more._ Hotter, more intense, and Hinata sprang to the forefront of his mind unceasingly.

But Tobio couldn't tell Hinata that. Not when Hinata thought the plan was working, and Tobio had already put them both in such an awkward place. He couldn't keep making things worse, or Hinata would have no choice but to kick him out.

The little bell over the shop door tinkled and Hinata shrugged. "Just tell me if there's anything else I can do. To help."

He put a hand lightly, reassuringly, against the small of Tobio's back—it was warm, through Tobio's shirt, lingered there even after Hinata had gone back to his work and Tobio approached their new customer with a sigh. Barely had he fought through one wave when the next began to swell.

But it was fine.

This continued on for the next week. Tobio could not ever remember his body's urges being as bad as this, not even when he'd been younger, when it was strongest for the others his age. It was endless, now, whatever frantic desire living with the Wolf was inciting in him. Two, three, _four_ times a day he was forced to disappear, ending up flat on his back or hunched over on his knees or sitting with his legs spread wide, working his cock in his fist, gasping like a fish snatched out of the water.

He felt shameful, the way it made him crave, the way it made him desperate, head spinning, lips dry, throat scratchy and voice rasping as he tried to muffle his cries as best he could every time he spilled thick and hot over his hand.

And yet, as frustrating as it was, it felt undeniably good—was pleasure like he'd never experienced it, tangible and addictive, unlike any release he'd experienced before. Those instances had all been mild, muted, nothing inspiring.

Now, he wanted it to last. His breaks during the day were out of necessity. At night, the urgency was gone—but the memory remained. After Hinata had fallen asleep, Tobio tried other things; tried slow. Thought about rough hands and forge heat and the biting scent of molten iron, rolled his hips and rubbed himself against the sheets through his pants. Bit back his whimpers as he let the heat roll through him for what seemed like, and may have been, hours. And then, finally, he could sleep, preparing to face another day.

But at least these days—and his new life in the town—were less difficult than he'd thought they might be at the beginning. Living and working in the town didn't carry the same uncertainties life amongst the nobles had.

There were a surprising number of things that were good. Because as it turned out, having Hinata around meant things were different for Tobio, like they'd never been before.

In town, people whose faces were still becoming familiar to him greeted him cheerfully, without obligation. Eventually, he began to realize they had stopped asking only after Hinata, and had come to take an interest in him, as well. They asked him how he was getting along at the shop and how he liked the town and if he'd gotten a chance to try the stew at the inn—more than anything, they seemed to be interested in whether or not he was doing well, if he was happy.

Tobio was beginning to realize that the way he felt, when he walked through the cobblestone streets in the busy afternoons, when heads turned and hands waved at his entrance to the bakery, when the firelight and chatter washed over him as he pushed through the door into the tavern in the evenings—that was happy.

Not the same happiness he'd felt in his life before, when he'd manage to do something, anything, right; the kind he'd known to mingle with relief, at pleasing others. This was happiness for its own sake.

"What've you got planned for the rest of the evening?" Hinata asked Tobio one night after they'd finished dinner—a meal at the house for once. Tobio swilled his water in his cup, contemplating, so Hinata went on. "I think I heard some of the others talking about going drinking by the lake. You're welcome to join!"

He smiled at Tobio from across the table, and Tobio faltered. Not long ago, he wouldn't have even considered saying yes, short of a social obligation to attend. Now, he thought the idea sounded almost enticing enough to agree. But eventually, he shook his head.

"No… not tonight." Hinata's hopeful expression turned a little disappointed, and Tobio hastened to add, "I want to get a start on inventory for tomorrow."

"This late?" Hinata asked, looking surprised.

"There's a lot to get through," Tobio said with a shrug. "But maybe next time I'd… I would like to join the rest of you."

Hinata leaned back in his chair and looked at him. Tobio squirmed a bit, and hoped he didn't notice.

"Tell you what," Hinata said, "I'll stay back tonight and help with inventory. Next time, you come drinking."

Tobio opened his mouth to protest, not wanting Hinata to hold back on his account, but Hinata waved him off.

"It's fine," he said. "Besides, I've been thinking… you're not just a shop assistant, you're a _blacksmith's_ assistant. Maybe it's time I started explaining a little bit more about how things work."

Tobio perked up. "Really? You mean like… like showing me how—"

"Just telling for now!" Hinata said hurriedly. "But eventually…"

"Okay, okay," Tobio said. "But you can't go back on that. Now that you've said—"

Hinata thunked his elbow down on the table and held out his hand. "I don't go back on my word."

Tobio glared at him and shook it. "Not even when I surpass you in skill?"

Hinata's smile was steel around the edges. "As if there's a chance of that."

And he truly seemed unconcerned, if the rest of the night was any indicator. They spent half of it sorting through the shop's uncatalogued wares, moving slowly as Hinata explained the technique and craftsmanship behind each one, beginning to explain to Tobio the basics of smithing work. Tobio, fascinated, barely realized how much time had passed, until he was yawning so frequently, eyes drooping shut, that Hinata finally decided to call it a night.

"I'm not tired," Tobio told him groggily, as Hinata hauled him to his bed, tugging on his arm and laughing.

"You can barely walk straight," he said, and Tobio tumbled onto the low sofa into his blankets, blinking up at him.

"I can still listen," he mumbled.

"You can listen tomorrow," Hinata said. He looked down at Tobio and then brushed a hand over his forehead, smoothing his bangs out of his face.

Tobio nodded. It was strange how this kind of proximity to Hinata didn't cause him any discomfort—he didn't want anything from the Wolf, in these moments. It was simply nice to have him near. It made Tobio feel relaxed and calm, fade into sleep faster.

"You're going to show me," he yawned, eyes finally closing, "because you're not going to get rid of me…"

"Doesn't look like it," was the last thing he heard Hinata say, before he was asleep.

*

The next day brought some unexpected occurrences.

It started off quite normally. Tobio and Hinata rose, they had their morning meal, and Hinata went to prepare for a day of smithing. Tobio, on the other hand, decided to go into town before he continued their inventory. So he gathered one of their large satchels, and set out.

First, he stopped at the grocer's store. The man was out but his wife was there, and she greeted Tobio as enthusiastically as ever. He'd finished all his shopping and was bidding her have a good day when she stopped him with a call of his name. Much to his bewilderment, she asked him an uncommon question.

"We've been wondering," she said kindly, "whether you wouldn't like to have supper with our family, sometime?"

Tobio blinked at her. "Me and Hinata?"

She gave a small laugh. "Just you, dear. My husband's taken quite a liking to you; as, I confess, have I."

Tobio didn't quite know what to say. He liked the grocer, his wife, and their two daughters well enough. But the prospect of a social without Hinata seemed uncomfortable at best, and painfully awkward, at worst. He couldn't fathom why they'd seen fit not to include Hinata, who he knew the family liked very well.

"Th-thank you," he managed to stammer out, and took his leave before realizing he had failed to give any sort of adequate answer.

It was at the market that the second odd encounter happened. He was just passing through, when he heard a voice shout his name, and he turned to see the grocer's younger daughter waving at him from her stall, where she was selling some of her family's fresh fruits and vegetables. Tobio waved back and headed over, to see if she had anything he might still need.

"You like apples?" she asked him, as he inspected a particularly large, red one.

Tobio took a large bite of the one he was holding. "They're good," he admitted around his mouthful, dropping a coin in her palm.

"My sister, now," the grocer's younger daughter said of the elder, "she makes a proper apple pie."

"Oh," Tobio said, brow furrowing as he thought this over. "I like apple pie," he said, both politely and truthfully.

"She could bake you some," the younger daughter said, with a wide smile.

"Wouldn't the baker be upset?" Tobio asked.

"Not to sell you!" She giggled. "But you'd be welcome to come by and have some, whenever you like."

"Hinata likes apple pie, too," Tobio said.

"Oh!" she said, looking surprised. "Well—meaning no disrespect to the smith, but we had thought maybe you'd like to come, uh, separately?"

Tobio blanched. Twice in one morning, he was now in this situation.

"I—I'll have to discuss things with him," he said hurriedly. "Good day."

"What is there to discuss?" she asked, sounding baffled.

"Things!" he repeated, as he backed away from the stall, calling over his shoulder again loudly, "Good day!"

By the time he made it back to the forge, he was feeling rather put out. It wasn't that he didn't want to take the family up on their offer; on the contrary, he felt a little bubble of happiness, knowing they'd thought of him. But he was terrible in social situations. He had been forever unsure of how to navigate the mires of high society where everyone kissed each other on the cheek and talked about him behind his back. But he still felt out of place in the more relaxed atmosphere of the close-knit town, where everyone knew each other, and he was the only outsider. It was only around Hinata that he felt more like he fit in.

He wanted to tell Hinata what had happened right away, but the familiar scent that met him when he entered the shop comforted him instead of riling him, for once. And then there were customers waiting, and stock to be catalogued, and the day passed mainly without incident and it was into early evening when Tobio realized he hadn't had to take a break yet that day. The smell of Hinata and the forge still surrounded him, as warm as ever; but instead of making him miserable, it had calmed him.

And then, just before the shop was due to close, the third out of the ordinary incident happened.

The bell over the door tinkled and Tobio, without looking up, said, "Sorry, we're done for the day."

"Wasn't looking to shop," a familiar voice said, and Tobio looked up to see that at last, the grocer himself had come to call.

Nerves filled the pit of Tobio's stomach, seemingly for no reason. The grocer was a mild, friendly man and Tobio had never felt out of sorts in his company, and yet… something nagged at him.

"Hinata!" he called, on reflex. "There's someone here for you!"

"Not necessary, not necessary—" the man said, starting to wave him off, but Hinata was already entering the shop from the side door leading off into the forge. He saw the grocer and greeted him with cheer.

"Evening, Groce," he said. "Did you need me for something?"

"Ah," the grocer said, awkwardly. "Ah, no, actually. I'd come to see Tobio."

"Oh," Hinata said. He looked towards Tobio.

"What for?" Tobio barked, harsher than he'd intended.

"Kageyama!" Hinata said, somewhat startled. He turned back to the grocer. "Is there an issue?"

"No, not at all!" the grocer said. "No, quite the opposite. I'll—come right out with it, then." He turned and faced Tobio squarely. "We'd like to have you over to the home one of these days, Tobio. For dinner, and to… to talk!"

Now it was Hinata's turn to look perplexed. "What for?" he asked, as though he hadn't admonished Tobio not five seconds earlier for his bluntness.

But Tobio merely blinked at the man. "Why… do you keep asking me?" he finally asked.

The grocer scratched his head. "This is the first time, if I recall correctly…"

"No—well, yes, for you," Tobio said. "But first it was your wife, and then it was your daughter, and now you've come—"

"Good lord, did they really?" the man asked. "Sorry, I'd no idea! I'd only mentioned it to them, I didn't think they would—well, but they're just hopeful, and can you blame them?"

Tobio shook his head. "I don't understand. What is it they're hoping for?"

"Well!" the man blustered. "Well… it's my eldest, you see."

Next to Tobio, Hinata made a funny sort of squawking noise in his throat. Tobio ignored him.

"Your daughter, you mean?" he asked.

"Yyyyyes," said the man, "yes. She's… quite taken with you, lad. And not for no good reason."

 _"What_ reasons," Hinata said blankly. At any other time, Tobio would have shouted at him, or at least shoved him, but right now his head was acting useless. He nodded, dumbly.

"You're hard-working," the man said, "honest, good mannered. You've got a keen eye for value—"

"When," Hinata interrupted, "would she have gotten an idea of his 'keen eye for value', exactly?"

"Oh, alright!" the grocer said, throwing up his hands. "It's true, I wouldn't mind having him about the store. But whether he wanted that, or to stay here—that'd be his decision."

"You're damn right it would!" Hinata exclaimed, looking affronted.

"Look—" Tobio interrupted them, still unsure of what was going on. Was the grocer trying to hire him? "I owe you and your family my thanks for thinking so highly of me, but I still don't understand why you keep inviting me to dinner."

Next to him, Hinata turned to stare, eyes and mouth both wide. The grocer looked like he had run out of things to say.

"We thought it would be nice," he told Tobio. "If we want you to be a part of our family, we wanted to have a meal like one."

"Part… of…" Tobio repeated, and then it all fell into place.

"There he goes," Hinata said.

"You—y-y-you—" Tobio stammered, taking a giant step backward, "you want _me_ to m-marr— _marry—_ "

"It's all just supposing, right now!" the man said, though Tobio's panic appeared to be alarming him, in turn. "We didn't want to say anything too quickly, seeing as how you and—" He cut himself off to look at Hinata.

"Him and me?" Hinata asked. Tobio glanced at him for assistance, and saw yet another surprise. Despite his tone, Hinata looked in no way calm. A subtle change had come about his face, as he stared at the grocer. His brown eyes watched, unblinking, suddenly no longer warm and gentle, but brightly cold. For the first time in many weeks, Tobio could see the Wolf that lurked beneath Hinata's skin.

"We didn't know what the arrangement was," the man said apologetically. "We didn't want to overstep. But now, seeing as how the two of you aren't together, in that sense…"

"No," Tobio said. "No, no—I'm sorry, but no." He shook his head resolutely, and the other two men turned to look at him. "I'm not… I'm not marrying _anyone_."

Both their faces softened. Tobio looked away, not wanting to see their pity. He didn't need it—it wasn't as though he wanted to be married, anyway. He wasn't meant for anything like that.

"Tobio," the grocer said, with much less bluster, and more gentleness. "We know you've come back because things didn't… work out for you, where you were. But that doesn't mean… that's why we wanted to ask you to just come have dinner."

"Thank you," Tobio said again. "But no."

The grocer opened his mouth again, but Hinata put a hand on the man's arm, and he closed it with a sigh.  

"Alright," the man said. "Thank you for hearing us out, all the same." He clapped Hinata on the shoulder and headed for the door, but turned back as he reached. "Although, it's a standing offer. If you do want to see what it's like at the store—"

"Goodnight, Groce," Hinata said loudly, and the man bowed out with a wave.

Tobio let out an immense sigh as soon as he was gone. Hinata looked at him out of the corner of one eye.

"You've really been making yourself popular about town, haven't you?" he asked.

Tobio glared at him. "I haven't been doing anything. I don't know why—I don't understand where any of that came from."

Hinata laughed, then, all the warmth returning to his eyes, and Tobio felt himself relax, the tiniest bit.

"No, I guess you wouldn't," Hinata said. "Maybe I should have just told him what a pain you are to live with, that would've changed his tune."

"I'm a pain?" Tobio asked, incredulous. "You— _y_ _ou're the one_ who wakes up at the crack of dawn to try and beat Red in crowing contests!"

"Tell me how you really feel, Kageyama," Hinata said, giggling joyfully.

"I _am!"_

"You heard the grocer," Hinata teased. "If you really can't stand it here, you've got a nice second option just waiting for you on the other side of the town square."

"Shut up," Tobio told him. "I'm not going anywhere, I already told you."

"Good." Hinata smirked. "Because I wouldn't want you to go anywhere. So deal with it."

"I already _do_ deal with it—" Tobio started to say, and then stopped. "Wait. You really wouldn't?"

"Why would I want to give up such a useful assistant?" Hinata asked.

"Oh," Tobio said.

Hinata tilted his head. "Unless you wanted to work for him. Or someone else."

"Right," Tobio said.

"Right," Hinata echoed. "I'm not a strict master, I'm not going to tell you that you belong to me and my shop now that you've started here. You're not mi—you're not stuck. You've got a choice."

Tobio looked away from him to stare at the ground. The grocer had called him honest. So, honest he would be—if only because Hinata had been trying to give him what he'd wanted from the start.

"What if… what if I _don't_ want to work for anyone else?" he asked of the floor beneath his feet. "What if I like it here just fine?"

Hinata didn't respond for quite awhile. Then he said, quietly, "You can be with whoever you want." Tobio looked up at him. Hinata was watching him with an expression he couldn't read, nor look away from. "You can go wherever you want, _stay_ wherever you want. I wouldn't stop you."

Tobio bit his lip. _Why not,_ he wanted to ask, but he waited. And was rewarded.

"But I would—" Hinata took a breath, deep and determined, and said, "I _want_ you to stay here."

Tobio stared at him, stunned, as the feeling inside him—the heat that had been kept at bay all day long—flared and snarled and ensnared him. He shut his eyes and shook his head, trying to fathom where the need had come from, so suddenly and without warning.

"Kageyama?" Hinata asked. His voice was like a punch to Tobio's gut.

"I need—" he gasped, "a break. I need a—I'm fine, just don't follow—"

He stumbled away from Hinata, in the direction of his room. His legs would barely carry him, and with a great effort, he dragged himself to his sanctuary, where he could be (mercifully, horribly) alone.

He collapsed onto the bed, shivering. He knew what he needed to do, and yet the mere thought of it made him writhe in agony. Why did he keep wanting this? Why was it so overwhelming, why wasn't it getting better, why was it only getting worse?

_Stay here. I want you to stay here. I want you._

Tobio cried out, muffling the sound in his pillow at the last second.

Hinata wanted him, too.

 _Not like that,_ a small voice in his head whispered. _Always so stupid. Always hopeful._

"It doesn't matter," Tobio mumbled. He didn't care how Hinata wanted him. All that mattered was that he did. Couldn't that at least make it bearable?

Because Tobio wanted…

He reached behind himself, fingers sliding over already wet skin, slick dripping from him, between his legs, running down his thighs. He tried to slow his rapid breathing, to calm down, but he froze up at the first brush at his entrance.

He rarely, if ever, touched himself here. It was faster and easier the other way, less messy and intrusive. Fingering himself, trying to fill that ache inside him, was something he'd only done once or twice before. He'd been truly desperate, those times, had made himself so—had wanted to prove he was above these kinds of feelings, because those around him seemed so convinced he was undeserving. They all acted as though he  _wasn't meant_ to be with someone who might give him those pleasures. So he'd ignored the urges, until they'd overpowered him completely.

He didn't much like to think about what it meant now, that they could be triggered seemingly instantly, by nothing more than a scent and a face and a voice.

Tobio bit the pillow between his teeth and moaned as he rubbed against the twitching, sensitive skin of his rim.

_I want you to stay here._

He pressed inside himself. It made him gasp, that foreign feeling, with shock. But more the feeling of being _closer,_ closer to enough. There were words echoing inside his mind, and now fingers working in his body, and together, it was almost like he had what he wanted.

Almost.

He rocked his hips back, dragging his cock in the sheets and taking his fingers all the way in, worked his wrist in fast circles before starting to thrust in and out. His face burned and he shoved it harder into the pillows, as the noise of his fingering, loud and sloppy and wet, pounded in his ears.

He couldn't bring himself to stop, or slow down. He just needed this wave to be over, needed to find a release satisfying enough that it would finally _last._

"I want to stay," he panted into the pillow, whispers harsh and shaky and for no one but himself, just like the fingers that pressed hard inside him, right against a spot that made his whole body seize up where he lay, cock throbbing and twitching. "I want— _Hinata—_ "

And that was it for him—he moaned long and low into the pillow as he came on the sheet, mind going purely blank, free of everything but weightless ecstasy. For a few, blissful seconds, he was unaware of everything but that feeling, and the reason for it. Hinata wanted him.

Then, from the other room, he heard a loud, booming thud, and a shout of pain. He sat up.

"Hinata?" he called, voice shaky and hoarse. When he got no response, he cleared his throat and called again, louder.

"I'm fine—" Hinata finally said. But his voice was oddly thin and high.

Tobio wiped himself clean on the sheet, dressing as quickly as he could and racing for the forge. It was dark inside, as usual, and at first he didn't even see the other man. Then he caught a glimpse of a figure, hunched in the corner of the room near his anvil, which had overturned.

"Hinata, what happened?" he asked, hurrying over.

"Ah…" Hinata said, his voice a low hiss. "Hand slipped."

Tobio leaned in to look and then recoiled. Even in the dim lighting, he could make it out—a large, vicious looking burn slashed right down the middle of Hinata's arm, so long it edged onto his palm.

"What were you even trying to do?" Tobio asked. "Why are you working in the dark? You idiot, you could have really—"

"I didn't do it on purpose," Hinata said indignantly. "I was trying to finish one last thing and—I got distracted."  

"By _what?"_ Tobio asked in exasperation. Hinata pursed his lips. "Fine. You're an idiot, either way, there's no getting around that."

Instead of arguing, Hinata sighed. "No, there isn't. He got to his feet, cradling his arm, and Tobio followed him into the house where they could actually use the light to see.

Tobio rooted around in a cupboard, until he came up with some clean cloth. "We need to go to the physician."

"For this?" Hinata asked, dismissively. "It's too late at night, and it'll hold 'til morning. I'll wrap it for now."

One-handed, however, he couldn't quite manage, and eventually Tobio took over, tying the cloth around his hand.

"Can't even bandage it myself," Hinata said, frustrated. "This is going to set us behind by at least a month…"

"A month?" Tobio asked. "Why that long?"

"I won't be anywhere up to speed with my hand like this," Hinata told him. "And the burn will take a few weeks to heal." He snorted humorlessly. "Maybe you _should_ take the grocer up on his offer. At least for a little while."

"Don't be stupid," Tobio said. "I'll stay here and help. You just need to show me what to do."

"What are you talking about?" Hinata shook his head. "I can't teach you how to blacksmith in enough time."

"If I leave," Tobio said, "that just makes everything worse for you. If I stay, at least you have _some_ help."

"We'd have two mouths to feed, on half the income," Hinata pointed out.

"We'll make it work," Tobio insisted, though he had no idea how. He just knew he couldn't leave Hinata. "Try me. You promised you would."

Hinata huffed. "I didn't mean—"

"You swore you wouldn't go back on your word," Tobio reminded him.

For a moment, they just glared silently at each other.

Then Hinata put a hand over his face, and laughed. "That's true."

"You do want me to stay here," Tobio said, the realization truly dawning on him. Through everything, Hinata had never tried to force him to leave.

"That's true, too," Hinata agreed, with a small smile in his direction. "You'd better sleep now, then. We've got to start early."

"I'll get dinner started," Tobio said, and didn't try to hide his excitement.

"It better be good," Hinata said, "because I'm stuck with your cooking for now."

Tobio threw an apple at him, and revelled in the fact that Hinata couldn't block quickly enough with his uninjured hand.

*

In his dream, the castle was cold, and the whispers were as loud as ever.

_"…he's such a waste…"_

_"…more like Ram…"_

Tobio shook his head. He didn't want to listen to what the voices inside its walls had to say; but ignorance was impossible, when they came from everywhere and everyone. They called him dumb, unobservant, but he couldn't fail to hear them. These familiar words were all he'd ever known.

_I'll be checking in on you, then._

What?

Tobio slowed his pace. It was a first. In this dream he had always had, he only ever moved faster, walked and then ran, trying to find a way out of the castle, away from the whispers. But he had heard something, just then. He thought it had sounded like a voice, but where it had come from, he didn't know. He couldn't be sure of what it had said. But it hadn't been a whisper. It wasn't trying to hide from him.

Those who turned their backs on him wouldn't let him rest for long. As if sensing his confusion, they began to hiss their disappointment and criticisms anew, lashing out at him with their disdain.

_"…taking advantage of his family…"_

_"…loud, angry Ram…"_

_"You'll never belong. Never."_

There was no need to keep telling him this, he always wanted to say. He knew all of these things already. He knew he could never be what they wanted. When he was younger, he'd still thought, maybe if he tried hard enough to be everything he wasn't…

_"Always so hopeful…"_

But they were wrong about that. He was tired of hoping.

_We want you to be a part of our family._

Another voice from nowhere. The whispers, still, were louder—but this voice, again, was new, and so it stood out. Tobio's footsteps slowed once more, as he looked around himself. He wanted to listen to it.

_"…ugly, big, mean—"_

Not them, he didn't want to listen to them. He already knew all they had to say.

_"No one wants you here…"_

_I want you to stay here._

The world halted around Tobio, or perhaps he stopped moving. He couldn't tell for certain. What he did know was that this voice, though still new, he recognized. And even though the whispers tried to drown it out, they couldn't—not so easily.

But the voice didn't belong inside the castle, and it wasn't there that it wanted Tobio to remain. As he thought this, the ground ruptured open at his feet, cracking apart to carry him far away from the castle, into the dark woods where the wolves would be waiting.

But when the ground had stopped shifting, and he found himself within the trees, the darkness dotted by glowing eyes, he saw that the red wolf had already come forward.

It stood apart from the others, closer to Tobio than it had ventured the first time. It had stopped there, and made no move to approach further.

 _"Why?"_ he asked it.

It didn't give him an answer. Instead, it simply sat down. Eventually, Tobio mimicked it, sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees. When he met the wolf's eyes, it didn't look away. So they sat, and watched one another, but the wolf didn't retreat back into the trees.

It stayed there, until he woke in the morning, with the sun starting to creep through the windows. Surely any moment, Red would begin to crow, but even though it was early, Tobio felt quite awake.

A full night's sleep was easier to come by when his dreams were not so shadowed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be traveling out of the country next week, so Ch 3 will be posted when I get back, on the 30th or 1st of Oct (depending on jetlag levels xP)
> 
> And I'll also be starting up Kinktober again this year on Tumblr, so keep an eye out for that! 
> 
> [[@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


	3. Chapter 3

In one of his dreams, Tobio questioned for the first time. He wondered about the cold castle, and the voices that surrounded him, and the way he was always alone.

He wondered why it seemed so frigid, even in the summers, even when they lit the fires in the winters. Surely it couldn't always be so chilly—and if it was, surely people would not love it as much as they seemed to, wouldn't enjoy the time they spent inside its walls.

He wondered what good it did, the whispers; and about all the people the voices belonged to, with their sly looks and callous words. Yes, he knew he wasn't likable, but he'd also never done anything to anyone.

He wondered why, if he wanted so badly to be left alone, it still stung. That exclusion, the sense of being abandoned. Maybe wanting to be alone felt more hollow when he had no other choice.

 _"No one wants you here,_ " the voices reminded him.

And given everything else—he hated being cold, he was tired of listening to the names they called him, he _didn't_ want to be alone anymore—he thought, maybe it was fine if they wanted to send him away. Maybe he didn't want to be there, either.

Instead of running, instead of the ground splitting apart to force him out, he turned, and walked—through the halls with the pale sunlight shining through the windows, past the alcoves where they turned their faces from him but still made sure he could hear their judgement, until he stood, by himself, in front of the castle doors.

He pushed them open, and left.

In an instant, the weak sunlight brightened, turned buttery and golden. He felt heat return to his fingertips. He stood at the top of the castle stairs, but in front of him, now, were not the rolling castle grounds but a village. The next step he took forward was onto worn cobblestones now familiar to him.

He didn't know where his steps would carry him. But as he walked, voices carried to him; not hisses, not whispers. There were people in the street, and he heard snatches of their conversations as he walked by them, and though he always passed before he could quite get a good look, none of them were facing away.

_"…a quiet sort, very polite, though…"_

_"…not what I would have expected, but he's a sweet boy…"_

_"…they were too hard on him, those people…"_

The voices faded too quickly for him to make out anything in particular, and then his interest was caught by a single building ahead of him—a forge, he thought, but the door was shut and the curtains drawn, so he kept walking. As he passed by he thought he heard laughter from inside. He wanted to listen, but at the last moment decided against it. He felt suddenly unsure, about whether or not it was his place.

Past the forge were trees—the forest, dark as ever. He didn't know what he was meant to do, here, but at least now he wasn't left alone under all the eyes that watched him. He sat amidst the trees and waited.

He'd hardly arrived before the red wolf emerged. It loped out of the trees toward him and he relaxed, now that it was there. It had become easier, the past few times he'd had the dream, to pretend not to notice the eyes of all the other wolves on him. But it was always easiest when the small wolf was right in front of him. Its own gaze was intense, too, but in showing itself to him, it put him at ease. It gave him something to focus on.

Tonight, instead of sitting down farther from him, maintaining the space between them, it continued to come forward.

It had never done this before, and he froze as it approached, nearer and nearer, until he could see himself reflected in its golden eyes. He could see every detail of his own face in them. He could see he looked nervous, even scared; but more than that, he looked curious. He was curious.

 _"Why?"_ he asked it.

Silently, it sat right in front of him. He reached out his hand, wanting to touch it, close enough to be able to for the first time.

* * *

He was woken by the crowing of a rooster, Red signalling the start of the day. Hinata seemed to already be up, surprisingly. Tobio could hear him up and about, making breakfast. He yawned, stretched, and swung his feet out over the side of the bed—and stepped on something soft.

Curious, he looked down—it was one of his pillows. It must have fallen off his bed in the middle of the night, though he didn't remember it happening. Then his name was called from the other room.

"Kageyama, are you awake? Do you want strawberries or blueberries with your porridge?"

"Both," Tobio called back, tossing the blankets off himself. "I'll come help you."

He needed to get up and about—today, Hinata began teaching him his new trade.

*

Smithing, as it turned out, was hard work.

Despite the fact that Tobio had watched Hinata and many others at work before, learning enough to be useful was quite the effort. It was complicated by the fact that Hinata couldn't effectively show him the heavier techniques with his injury, and so much of the process was slowed by one or both of them losing patience and starting to shout at the other, which usually ended in Tobio chasing Hinata around the forge, the shorter man screeching and clutching his bandaged arm to his chest, as Red squawked wildly and followed at their heels like it was a game (which, in point of fact, it rather was).

It was also slow work.

Inexperienced as he was, Tobio was at first relegated to small pieces, horseshoes and candle dishes and bowls. The sharp edges of knives were beyond his skill, and the odd shapes of doorknobs. He took three times as long as Hinata would have, to do even the simplest of tasks, and even then sometimes the finished product turned into a mangled mess that would have to be scrapped. But despite the wasted time and materials, Hinata never seemed upset. He'd laugh, most often, and then clap Tobio on the shoulder and tell him to try again. He also refused to throw any of the twisted scraps away, and instead put them up around the shop and his house like pretty statues, much to Tobio's embarrassment.

It was painful work.

As he began to learn how to craft bigger and more complex items, an ever present ache began to make itself known, first in his arms, then throughout his entire body.

"Mmm…" Hinata said knowledgeably, watching Tobio knead his arms absently after they'd finished their evening meal, wincing as he dug his fingers into the muscles. "Now you know how the iron feels."

"What's that mean?" Tobio asked.

Hinata cleared the plates from the table, explaining as he dumped them in the kitchen trough to wash later.

"Right now, you're like unforged metal." He approached the table on Tobio's side, straddling the bench next to him. "Turn, like this," he said, and Tobio imitated him, turning to face his back to Hinata.

"How am I like—ahhhouch! OW—" Tobio yelped, nearly pulling away from Hinata, but Hinata clamped onto his shoulder with a grip like steel.

"Quit moving, this is harder with one hand," he said.

Dutifully, Tobio stayed still, as Hinata stretched one of his arms behind his back. The soreness made Tobio's eyes prick with tears, but at the same time, it felt… good.

"Cold metal—metal that hasn't been worked, hasn't been touched—is still strong," Hinata told him.

His voice was light, but his fingers were hard and unrelenting as they massaged Tobio's muscles and stretched his limbs. Tobio had practice in this, had learned as part of his training how to ease fatigue from tired bodies, but that wasn't what Hinata was trying to do. It felt more like he was trying to work the soreness deeper inside, find the ache and tame it.

"Once the metal is heated, though…" he continued, pulling first Tobio's right arm, then his left, behind his back, hard. Tobio gasped as Hinata leaned his weight against him, chest pressed warm to his back. "Once it's heated, that's when we can mold it. Shape it, stretch it."

Tobio understood. "And the heat makes it stronger."

"Mm-hm," Hinata murmured in his ear, finally easing up on him. And Tobio still ached, in many ways, but not in any bad ones.

"Thanks," he said, rolling his shoulders.

Hinata nodded, crossing his arms knowingly. "You're strong now, Kageyama. But, you're going to get even stronger."

No one had ever called Tobio strong before. Only too big, too tall for a Lamb, and never were those good qualities. He turned to face Hinata, to look at him as he repeated, "Thanks."

Hinata waved him off. "Don't mention it. Oh, and it's your turn to wash the dishes."

"It's been my turn for three weeks," Tobio grumbled, even as he reluctantly climbed to his feet.

"They said I can't get this wet!" Hinata crowed, pointing to his bandage, and Tobio shooed him away. It was the least he could do, anyway.

To Hinata's annoyance (and poorly hidden pride), Tobio showed skill in the precision work of tinsmithing very quickly. He said it must be Tobio's delicate side showing through at last, but he took a great amount of interest in watching Tobio work when they both had the time. Soon, they had an array of small trinkets and tokens to sell—little function, but delightful to the villagers, who rarely saw such light-hearted, finely crafted objects within the city borders.

Hinata let Tobio set the prices for each of them. When they first started selling them, Hinata said nothing, until he watched the cobbler's small children both leave the shop one weekend with tiny tin horses clutched in their fists, screaming their excitement. Tobio had priced them at a single copper each, easily affordable. He looked down so Hinata couldn't see him smile, even when the other man came up behind where he was seated, draping his uninjured arm over Tobio's shoulders, pointy chin digging into the top of his head.

"Those would have sold for much more," Hinata said fondly, "if they were being bartered near the castle."

"People here can't pay as much," Tobio said, trying and failing to shrug him off. "And anyway, I enjoy it."

Hinata patted his shoulder. "Then, I'm glad."

"Why?" Tobio snorted.

"Aren't you?" Hinata asked.

Tobio shrugged. "I am, I suppose." He turned to watch as Hinata slipped away, shooting him a cheeky smile before turning and practically dancing back into the forge.

"That's why!" he called brightly over his shoulder.

Tobio shook his head, but couldn't help feeling warmed by the answer.

"Actually," Hinata said, popping his head back into the room, "I've been thinking. Perhaps we could set up a stall for Midsummer's festival."

It was late in spring, now. Tobio had, to his surprise, already been working at the shop for several months at this point. Soon the days would turn even warmer as summer came, with the Midsummer's festival falling just a few weeks away.

The festival lasted the entire month, and was the biggest holiday of the entire year. Even in the more reserved atmosphere at the castle there was much celebration during this time. He could only imagine the rabble rousing that might go on in the village.

"People can just come by the shop any time," he pointed out.

"Yes…" Hinata said, "but during the festival, we get a lot of visitors from _beyond_ the village borders, sometimes merchants looking for unique foreign goods. Even some of the soldiers get leave to come back into town, sometimes."

That was true, Tobio realized. Many nobles went vacationing this time of year, and while he knew the tiny village wouldn't be the most sought after destination spot, certainly there would be people passing through. And anyone who had gone to work in the royal city or military might return to their hometown.

"If you think it's a good idea, then, maybe we can," he allowed, and Hinata whooped.

"It's a great idea!" he said. "We can barter, no prices listed. Nobles'll have to pay their fair share!"

"What _nobles_ do you think will even glance at our cart?" Tobio asked. It was half a serious question. He certainly didn't think he'd see anyone he recognized.

"Dunno," Hinata shrugged, disappearing back into the forge. "But we're going to have to amp up production again. It's a very busy time of year!"

"Good thing your arm's almost healed, then," Tobio called out. "You can finally stop slacking off!"

There was a loud squawking noise, which he had trouble identifying as Hinata or Red, until the chicken came hurtling out of the room, flapping its wings raucously as it sailed straight for his head.

True to Hinata's word, his arm was barely healed before he set about working them both hard.

"You understand what to do, right?" Hinata asked Tobio, somewhat nervously.

They were both standing over the anvil, a heavy piece of hot, glowing iron on the metal slab between them. Hinata's bandages had only just come off, and though he wasn't quite supposed to be back at work, he still insisted on at least preparing Tobio to take on some of the more difficult tasks.

Today, Tobio was assisting him directly for the first time, repairing a large, old gate for a farmer. He would be acting as Hinata's striker. Hinata would hold the metal in place firmly while using a small hammer to tap on the portion Tobio needed to strike.

Tobio held a second hammer—but this tool was enormous, with a broad, heavy metal head he would bring smashing down where Hinata indicated.

"What's there not to understand?" Tobio asked. "You tap, I hit."

"It's not too heavy for you, is it?" Hinata asked.

"No," Tobio said, glaring. "Are you going to show me or—"

"Okay!" Hinata said. "Ready?"

Tobio hefted the hammer aloft. "Ready."

"Swing… here!" Hinata told him, tapping sharply on the gate piece. The high _ting_ of impact rang through the forge.

Then—with a _CLANG_ , Tobio struck, the force of the blow sending a shudder up through his arms, so that he reverberated with the sound.

"Perfect!" Hinata yelled over the noise. "Again, here!"

They worked like this in tandem, the forge music loud in their ears, light and high when Hinata turned the piece and showed Tobio where to hit, deep and ringing when Tobio followed his instruction perfectly.

By the time they were finished, the gate had been reforged. Tobio set the hammer down with a heavy thud on the floor, chest heaving. His arms felt like pudding, but he raised one of them shakily to wipe some of the sweat dripping from his face.

"Told you I'd get it," he said, turning to look at Hinata.

Hinata was staring at him. Tobio faltered at the expression on his face. He'd seen Hinata look focused before, but not quite like this—intense and so heated it was a bit alarming, and somewhat indescribable. Almost like he was furious, yet not angry. Like he'd been waiting, for just such a moment.

"Hinata?" Tobio asked. Hinata's name was breathless in his voice. He felt not unnerved, exactly, but his breathing had quickened again, still laborious from exercise, and now something like anticipation.

"You're…" Hinata murmured, trailing off, before finally shaking his head, slowly. He looked away. "That was good. Exactly what I… what I wanted."

"Oh," Tobio said, feeling inordinately pleased. "Well, I told you," he repeated, somewhat dumbly.

"Yes," Hinata said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "We should be back on track now, with you helping. We'll keep… keep at it. You're learning well."

"Okay," Tobio agreed. Hinata still wasn't looking directly at him, and he tilted his head, noticing the avoidance, the redness in Hinata's face and neck. "Are you alright? Is your arm—"

"I'm—it's fine," Hinata said quickly. "But maybe I—maybe I should take a… break."

"This is why you should have listened when the physician said you needed a few more days before—" Tobio started, but Hinata cut him off.

"Okay, okay," he said. "Go see to the shop for now, we'll be getting busy soon."

Tobio cleaned his hands and had barely entered the other room when the door opened to admit their first customer for the day.

This routine seemed to work well. In the early mornings, before the sun rose and people began to stop by, Tobio would assist Hinata with his smithing work. Pretty soon, he was able to take on some of the more difficult work himself. When he did this, Hinata would go out into the shop to assist customers. Even after his arm had healed, he tended to let Tobio use the forge alone, and Tobio used the opportunity to prove he could work longer, and harder, every day, despite being new to the craft.

So it happened that one afternoon, Hinata had left him alone to work, when the bell over the door rang. But no one was there to answer it.

"Hello?" Tobio heard a voice call, and he hurried out into the shop to find it empty, save for one of the townswomen.

"Sorry," he huffed, still out of breath from the hard work he'd been doing. "I thought Hinata was out here."

"That's alright," she said, staring at him.

He helped her find what she needed, but noticed the staring hadn't abated any throughout their transaction. Finally, as he was wrapping her purchase, he gave in to his own curiosity.

"Is something the matter?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from sounding too brusque. "You keep… have I got something on my face?"

"Oh!" she said, looking startled to have been caught. "No, sorry, dear. It's just that you look so… _so_ …"

 _"So?"_ Tobio prompted, and she chirped,

"So virile!"

Now it was Tobio's turn to stare. "What?" he spluttered. He felt his face growing ever redder as she tittered behind her hand.

"It suits you!"

"Th-thank you?" Tobio managed, aware that by now, he sounded quite rude in his surprise. But he'd never in all his life been called such a bold thing, much less praised for it.

"Don't mention it!" she said, as she took her leave.

Tobio stared at the door another moment longer, stunned, before it shut with a thud, jolting him out of his daze. He turned, slowly.

"Hinata!" he called out, as he stomped his way through the shop and into the house. "Hinata!"

There was no response. Feeling slightly unnerved, he hurried towards the back of the house, calling for Hinata again as he neared the blacksmith's room. Right as Tobio reached it, he heard a muffled exclamation of protest, but he was already rushing through the door, now wondering whether something really was wrong.

It wasn't. Not quite.

Hinata sat on his bed, and appeared to be perfectly fine. But he gasped, and swore, when Tobio entered, and Tobio froze in the doorway, completely stunned.

The Wolf's pants were undone, legs spread apart. Tobio knew his staring was obvious, and still could not find it in himself to look away; because Hinata's hand was between his legs, gripped tight around his cock, which was fully hard, flushed red _._

"Knocking's beneath you?" Hinata rasped, voice catching at all the edges, and Tobio drank it in, craving a little more of that roughness.

"You're slacking off," he said instead, and his own voice cracked, embarrassingly.

Hinata stared at him. Tobio didn't know what to make of it. It wasn't an angry stare, nor was it bewildered or ashamed or any number of the things Tobio might have imagined he'd feel himself, in such a position.

"Slacking?" Hinata repeated. "That's what you call the same courtesy I allow you?"

"C-courtesy?" Tobio stammered. "I _have_ to—"

Hinata's expression finally crumbled, twisted as he groaned and curled in on himself. _"Kageyama,_ " he said, "you have to leave—you look—you _smell_ so _good,_ I can't—"

Tobio swayed and grabbed for the door frame, his body—traitorous thing as it was—reacting before he'd even processed Hinata's words. "What?" he asked, faintly.

 _"Leave,_ " Hinata forced out, "leave, I need to—it _hurts_ if I don't—"

"Because—of me?" Tobio asked.

"Yes," Hinata confirmed, teeth grit. "I can't help that, we can—you can be mad at me once I'm done—"

"I—" Tobio choked. He stepped forward, one foot moving and then sticking, as he fought two instincts at once. The first, to run, out of the house perhaps, to act like none of this had happened. The second…

"Please…" Hinata moaned, and Tobio ignored the pleading for what it was, and heeded it as he wished it could be.

He took another step, as his second instinct won out, dragged him toward Hinata. His shaky legs gave way and he sank to his knees, to crawl to the bed. Hinata's eyes widened in something like panic.

"What are you doing?" he asked Tobio.

Tobio stared up at him from the floor, mouth dry and tongue heavy. "I… I want…"

"You don't—want to go—" Hinata said, breaths labored and sharp.

When Tobio jerked his head to the side, _no_ , Hinata groaned, and reached for him. Tobio froze as he felt hot fingers slide into his hair at the base of his neck.

"Kageyama," Hinata said, "I'm sorry…"

Tobio felt momentarily as though he'd been doused in ice water. Of course, he'd misunderstood. Hinata must be about to push him away; must not want this to involve him, anymore than it already did. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to leave, and never mention any of this again, if Hinata even allowed him to stay, after this. Tobio couldn't expect him to keep making allowances, not when Hinata's own life was being compromised as well.  

"I'm sorry you found me like this," Hinata finished, fingers pressing against his skin, anchoring Tobio in place.

This was not what Tobio had expected to hear. He opened his mouth to respond and no words came out. His face burned as he fought to think of a single thing to say, so he lowered his head, staring hard at the floor. He didn't think Hinata had anything to apologize for. Tobio now knew as well as anyone how frustrating, sometimes outright torturous it could be, trying to fight the urges. He just hadn't expected Hinata to have problems with it—especially not on account of him.

Because he couldn't fathom, either, Hinata wanting him. He had been taught that he must earn those feelings, especially where a Wolf was involved. And right now, he was anything but desirable, not like this. He knew he was acting unbearably shameful—on his hands and knees, undignified and suddenly so easy.  

Hinata shouldn't want him like this; it would be wrong of Tobio to let it continue. This was foolish at best; pathetic at worst.

Then there were hands on his face, sudden but not abrupt enough to startle; warm and calloused and gentle. He looked up, straight into steady, soft brown eyes. He almost thought he could see himself in their reflection.

"What do _you_ want?"

Hinata's voice had changed—not in any way Tobio could pinpoint, exactly, but it was different. Suddenly in-control, _calming,_ and Tobio felt his shivering start to subside.

"Tobio," Hinata said, fingers brushing softly against his sweaty skin, smoothing his hair away from his forehead, "stop thinking so hard. I want to know what you want from me."

Tobio stared at him, slack-jawed. What kind of a demand was that?

After a moment, he managed to choke out, "I don't—I can't—"

"You can," Hinata vowed. "You don't have to. But you can."

Tobio wasn't sure what that meant—whether Hinata was insisting that doing this was okay, or Tobio could tell him what he wanted, or that it was alright, that Tobio wanted anything like this at all. But it sounded safe; it made Tobio feel like he wasn't wrong, when Hinata said it, and so he actually considered it—what did he  _want?_

Like this… with the position Tobio was in, he could see that Hinata up close was even better than accidental glimpses when swapping for baths or first thing in the morning before Hinata had bothered to get dressed. He had copper red hair dusting down low on his belly, coarser and curlier and a little darker the lower down Tobio's eyes traveled. And down they did travel, until they landed on the very thing he'd been trying and failing not to think about for months.

Hinata's cock was, as remembered, _distractingly_ thick. The head of it was smeared shiny, wet, and Tobio swallowed hard. He could only imagine what Hinata would taste like. What he'd feel like, large as he was.

"Lamb…" Hinata breathed, and Tobio shuddered all over, "you can tell me. It's alright."  

Tobio closed his eyes. It was there, what he wanted, on the tip of his tongue; but he could not bring himself to admit it. He pressed his forehead to Hinata's knee and whined. Hinata continued stroking his hair.

"Okay. It's okay, you don't have to talk," Hinata said, then exhaled shakily. "Ah, but—I need to—if I don't do something, I'm going to lose my mind, I'm—"

Tobio nodded at him, nodded and nodded and Hinata let out a soft groan, and then curled his fingers around himself, slowly, hand working from the base of his cock all the way up to the tip and back. Tobio kept staring, eyes fixed on Hinata's hand right in front of his face, watching as he pushed his length through his fist, hard and deliberate.

"You're—okay with this?" Hinata panted, and Tobio nodded again, all he could do to respond. He wasn't sure _what_ he was feeling. He just knew he didn't want Hinata to stop. Hinata shuddered out a breath. "I thought—thought maybe—" He hung his head, almost guiltily, until his forehead touched Tobio's ever so slightly. "I can _hear_ you. I've heard everything."

Tobio jerked his face up to look at Hinata with wide eyes. Did Hinata mean what he thought? That was impossible, he'd been so quiet, so _careful—_

"I've been l-listening to you, for so long…" Hinata confessed, "every night…"

Tobio shut his eyes as he felt himself grow hot with shame. It hadn't been enough, he hadn't been careful enough—not enough to hide from the Wolf. Perhaps it had always been hopeless, given their proximity… he should have known better. He'd been so stupid.

"Don't look… like that, don't," Hinata whispered. "I wasn't… You sounded amazing, Tobio. Every time, I thought my—my heart would stop…"

Shocked, Tobio blinked his eyes open. Hinata's eyes were wide, and when they found Tobio's gaze again, he moaned softly. Tobio felt his stomach twist as Hinata leaned closer, until he could feel Hinata's unsteady breathing on his lips. Still, he couldn't make a sound of his own, didn't know what to do. But Hinata curled his fingers into his hair and guided him.

"You like to go slow, right?" he murmured. "Do you want to go slow, with me?"

And that, that was something Tobio could say with certainty that he wanted very much.

He pressed closer, higher into Hinata's space, rising up on his knees until Hinata no longer had to tilt his head down to look at him. He rubbed his hand over Tobio's back, before sliding it lower, much lower. Tobio held still, hands braced on the bed, gasped softly as Hinata slipped his fingers below the band of his pants, to push them off, movements cautious. Then he settled one warm, calloused hand on Tobio's bare hip, gripping him solidly.

"Do you want to do it like me?" Hinata asked him. "Or do you want… here…"

He tapped one finger lightly on Tobio's skin, right above the curve of his ass, and Tobio reached a hand behind himself, before he even registered what he was doing, slid two fingers between his cheeks and through the wetness that had begun to drip from his entrance, that Hinata must be able to smell so strongly. His cock was hard, too, but he wanted something inside him, wanted to be full.

"H-here," he managed to say.

"Okay," Hinata said, voice hitching as he gave his cock another long, slow pull. "Do it. Do what you need to."

Tobio obeyed readily. He was so much more used to the feeling, now, and like this it felt somehow more natural—he wasn't alone, frustrated, fantasizing. It was okay. He needed this, Hinata knew he did. He didn't have to hide it, if Hinata had given him permission.

He hissed, as he rubbed a finger in circles against his hole, and Hinata murmured soft encouragements, one hand steady on Tobio's hip, and the other working himself slowly, as he watched Tobio's face through fluttering lashes. When Tobio sank a finger inside himself, meeting no resistance from his aching body, Hinata seemed to know even though he couldn't see.

"Good, that's so—so good," he mumbled, rubbing his forehead reassuringly against Tobio's. "You want more?"

"Ye—yes," Tobio huffed, already teasing with his second finger. Not full enough, not yet.

"Keep going," Hinata told him, then, so he did—pushing the second finger in, mouth falling open at the little bit more this gave him, the slight stretch. "Right there, yes. I know, I know you want—it…"

"Hi—Hinata…" Tobio gasped, biting his lip when Hinata's fingers on his hip squeezed and tightened almost painfully, digging hard into his flesh. "Hinata, you—you're okay? It's okay with you if I—"

"Hasn't it been okay for ages now?" Hinata asked, with something almost like a laugh.

"But like this—my s-scent," Tobio stammered, unsure of what he was trying to say, what he _had_ to say. His heart was beating double time, in arousal, and embarrassment, and too many other things to name. "It's not—you don't mind—"

"Mind?" Hinata panted. "It's—you smell _incredible._ "

Tobio whimpered, and his cock twitched, as the Wolf's praise threatened to drown out his humiliation, made him want to do anything to be told more of these things. To be told he was good.

He curled his fingers deep inside himself, and cried out, the sound breaking into a helpless moan when Hinata caressed his side, hand sliding all the way up Tobio's body to grip his neck once more. They had both failed rather impressively at trying to go slow, and Tobio could feel himself closing in on the end, as he watched Hinata rock his hips up into his hand, thumb pulling over the head of his cock to slide in the wetness gathered there.

"This is what _I_ want," Hinata gasped, and the last reserve of strength within Tobio cracked.

Like one of his weakest attempts at forging, he felt as it splintered under the pressure, the weight of months of uncertainty.

He did not know how to keep resisting Hinata.

So his resolve crumbled; and through the gaping hole that remained surged desperation.

Hinata sensed it, his eyes widening, but Tobio was already falling. Hinata opened his arms and let him give in, pulling Tobio to him, holding him against his chest.

"I can't—I _can't—_ " Tobio gasped. Air seemed so hard to come by, suddenly, like none of the breaths he was heaving were working at all. He tried to prop himself up on his hands on the bed, but his arms were shaking too much. He fell again, half in Hinata's lap between his legs.

"Kageyama," Hinata said, alarmed, but Tobio was past trying to speak, or explain. Hinata knew what he wanted. He had to know. "You aren't supposed to let it get this bad!"

Tobio didn't want to tell him the truth—that it was always like this, that he'd just kept his desperation hidden. It was constant. It was indescribable, the force with which he needed Hinata. Always waiting just under the surface, to drown him in it.

"I—know—" Tobio choked. "Let me—"

"Let me _help,_ " Hinata said, and Tobio moaned. The last thing he deserved was Hinata's help. But he couldn't deny wanting it any longer.

But maybe Hinata wouldn't have to do much at all.

"Stop me," Tobio said, "if I…" He hoped he was not about to ask too much, go too far.  

"What do you want me to do?" Hinata asked, after a moment. He sounded too calm—like he was about to come entirely apart if he didn't concentrate hard enough on not breaking.

Tobio shook his head. "…want to smell you…"

"Whatever you…" Hinata swallowed determinedly, bracing his hands on the bed behind himself. "Whatever you need."

Tobio _needed_ him.

He shuffled closer, awkward on his knees as he pulled himself near to Hinata. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, until he felt the tip of his nose brush the hot surface of Hinata's skin at his hip, and it made him shudder, a great heaving shiver running up his spine, through his whole body, as he breathed Hinata in. It brought a moan with it—heavy and thick, dragged from his lungs before he could stop it. He pressed his face into hot flesh and inhaled, desperately, with his mouth open, lips moving over flesh still damp with sweat.

He needed Hinata, he needed everything about him, everything he knew the Wolf was, that Tobio had not known before he'd found him. Burns and callouses and singed heat; loudness and fondness and more kindness than there'd ever been in Tobio's life; the smell of iron, and the scent of a man, more than Wolf.

He tensed, briefly, as he felt a hand land on his head; but then Hinata was brushing his fingers through Tobio's hair again. It felt amazing, to be touching Hinata, to have Hinata touch him, even like that.

"Is… is this okay?" Tobio mumbled. Even the way Hinata's skin felt under his lips when he spoke was good.

"Yes," Hinata said, "but—" He broke off with a short intake of breath, barely a gasp. Tobio's eyes fluttered open. Hinata was staring down at him, expression open—he was always easy to read, but his expression now was soft in a way it was hard for Tobio to understand.

But he did register again, with no doubts, how thick Hinata was when he was fully hard and right in front of Tobio's nose. Just looking at it made Tobio ache, made his cock twitch and leak where it was pressed into the side of the bed.  

 _"Oh—_ " Hinata breathed, when Tobio turned his head, to brush his lips against the base of Hinata's erection.

He tasted like salt; hot and slightly sticky against Tobio's mouth, after Hinata's sweat had dried when he'd been exposed to the air. Tobio lapped at him and found that it turned slick again, very quickly.

He whined, and Hinata's fingers were suddenly a fraction less gentle, tightening in his hair.

Nervous again, Tobio pulled away, blinking up at Hinata, readying himself to hear that he had crossed a line.

But Hinata was staring down at him, his eyes half-lidded, pupils blown wide and dark. His face was flushed entirely pink, mouth fallen open as his breath huffed unevenly from his lips.

"Don't stop," he pleaded softly, and Tobio's hesitation was finally stamped out.

He dove back down, now unafraid of what he might do, what losing control might mean for them both, and finally gave it up willingly.

Hinata stifled a cry above him, as Tobio started to explore him in earnest, lips and tongue learning the shape and taste of him. He wanted to learn all of Hinata, he wanted to take his time and memorize him, the strength and the softness beneath; he wanted to know if Hinata would smile at him as teasingly as he always did, when he caught Tobio staring at him so openly, staring more than he ever had before.

But just then, Hinata wasn't smiling—he was gasping, head tilted back, eyes closed. A drop of sweat rolled down his throat, to settle in the hollow.

Tobio leaned up in a daze. He surged forward unthinkingly, drawing his tongue in a long line up the column of Hinata's throat. Hinata groaned, husky and low.

"I want," Tobio said, relishing that he could feel them, the noises Hinata made, "I want to taste you."

Hinata huffed a breathless laugh. "You're doing… a pretty good job of that."

"No, I—" Tobio hid his face in Hinata's neck, sighing blissfully when Hinata turned his face to let Tobio nuzzle into him, against his cheek. "I want to—have you in my mouth. But I don't know what to do."

"Oh," Hinata said. "I… You can do whatever you want and I'll… I'll help you…"

Tobio pulled back to look at him, forehead knocking against Hinata's. Hinata's breath puffed against his lips again, and he shivered when Hinata's gaze flickered downward, before he slid his palm against Tobio's cheek.

"Okay," Tobio said, as Hinata swept his thumb over his lips. He settled back down, kneeling again between Hinata's legs, stomach fluttering with nervous excitement. 

"You can go really slow to start o- _off! Kagey—_ " Hinata yelped, as Tobio opened his mouth and slipped Hinata's cock past his lips, sinking down around him. Hinata's hand flew to the back of his neck, his breathing stuttering. "O-or," he said, voice strained, "you could do it all at once."

If Hinata had looked thick before, now that Tobio had him in his mouth, he _felt_ even bigger than that. He was burning on Tobio's tongue, smooth and hot. Tobio realized he couldn't work out how to swallow; his lips were being stretched wide, his jaw pushed to its limits, and he felt saliva beginning to pool at the corners of his mouth before it began to run down Hinata's shaft.

"Too—much?" Hinata asked, voice strained.

Tobio paused, and then shook his head. He moaned, more frustration than anything else. Hinata's thighs tensed and twitched, as he slid his hand down, to hold Tobio's throat.

"B-breathe," Hinata told him. "You can't take—can't take all of me right away—sh- _shit, shit—_ "

Tobio had pushed himself further down, and his eyes began to water, but he didn't stop—he wanted to take it until he choked, and couldn't breathe, and all his limits had been passed.

 _"Kageyama,_ " Hinata said, stroking Tobio's throat with his fingers. With his other hand, he wiped away the wetness from Tobio's eyes, tear tracks born of mixed determination and desperation.

Tobio gripped the tops of his thighs, pressed his fingers into Hinata's flesh, and groaned, a low, insistent whine. He didn't know if Hinata would understand, but Tobio needed him to, needed him to know that Tobio couldn't just slow down now, or stop. Not when he was finally able to have Hinata.

And Hinata, as always, sensed what it was that Tobio hadn't been able to say.

"Come up a little bit," Hinata said. When Tobio refused, Hinata fisted one hand in his hair, dragging him off. He wanted Hinata's cock, but the unexpected roughness made Tobio even slicker, wetter. His hips rolled when Hinata growled, _"Listen_ to me."

Tobio gasped for air now that he could breathe easily again, staring wide-eyed up into Hinata's face. "I will. P- _please_ …"

 _"Tobio._ " Hinata's voice cracked on Tobio's name, before he closed his eyes briefly, pausing to take several measured breaths. Tobio wondered what he'd done, but stayed dutifully quiet, waiting for Hinata to speak to him again. "Take what you can. Use… your hand otherwise…"

What he _could_ take didn't seem like nearly enough to Tobio. But Hinata had just commanded him to listen, and he couldn't disobey. This would have set him on edge any other time, with any other Wolf. But with Hinata, it made him even warmer with desire. He'd been given an order only because Hinata had been worried, wanted to take care of him.

He eased back down, much slower this time. This was less overwhelming, and now that he wasn't struggling to breathe, he noticed more. He could taste a faint bitterness now, the wetness that had leaked from the tip; more of it spilled on his tongue when Hinata twitched in his mouth, right before he moaned.

"G-good," he said, "that's— _nnnh…_ "

A thrill ran through Tobio—Hinata definitely did not sound worried any longer. Tobio swiped his tongue over the head of Hinata's cock eagerly, experimentally, and was rewarded by another long, shaky groan. Hinata sounded better than Tobio had ever even imagined he might; it made the sense of urgency that so often overtook him when he was alone grow to towering heights.

He remembered Hinata's words and brought his hand up, wrapping it around Hinata's shaft as he licked and sucked at it, and Hinata's hips jumped. His cock was slick from Tobio's spit, enough that he could work his hand quickly up and down, and if he bobbed his head, he found it was easier to take Hinata in further, than just staying still.

It was so much, so satisfying, to have Hinata under his hands like this. To be the one causing him to fall apart, hear his voice climbing higher and more fractured as Tobio began to increase his pace. He swiped his tongue over Hinata's tip, dragging it over his slit, savoring the soft, smooth heat—moaning when Hinata's fingers twisted in his hair.

"Ka—Kageyama," he gasped, _"That's_ —Ka—I'm going to—"

Tobio nodded as best he could. He wanted Hinata to finish in his mouth, wanted to drink Hinata down until he was full.

 _"Haah—_ " Hinata hissed, "Fuck, _Tobio—"_

He came with a rough groan that knocked the strength from Tobio's knees, hips jerking, and suddenly Tobio's mouth was flooded with a hot, salty liquid. He swallowed, but it was more than he'd expected, and he coughed and choked, and some of it spilled over his lips and onto his chin.

"S-sorry," Hinata gasped, over and over, "sorry, I'm sor—"

"Don't," Tobio said, voice hoarse, "don't—it's what I—" He stopped himself, as old fears came creeping back in. He didn't want Hinata to regret this, regret being with him like this, because he was so inexperienced, lacked so much control. "Y-you… don't have to say you're sorry."

Hinata stared down at him, still breathing heavily. He raised a hand to wipe Tobio's lips with his fingers. "I don't need to be?"

"No," Tobio said. He realized he was trembling all over and he lowered his head, shying away to wipe his mouth himself. He felt suddenly exhausted. He needed to have his own release, but after what had just happened, it seemed a hollow thought, to crawl off by himself and finish alone. But he ached, terribly.

He felt fingers brush his hair back again, before firm hands gripped his arms. Then he was being hauled up, pulled at gently.

"Come up here," Hinata said, coaxing Tobio to climb into the bed with him.

"H-Hinata?" The sheets were unfamiliar beneath Tobio's knees, soft but with a slight coarseness to them. He wondered, fleetingly, if Hinata had been giving him all the good bedding.

"Hm…" Hinata murmured. "You haven't let me help you, yet."

Tobio blinked at him. It was still dizzying, being so close to Hinata. Kneeling next to Hinata, Tobio could feel the heat bleeding from his legs, where their thighs had pressed together.

"You… you just let me…"

"Do you really not want me to?" Hinata asked quietly.

Tobio fell silent. He felt like protesting—it wasn't fair, wasn't a fair question at all. If he lied, Hinata would know. But if Hinata knew the truth, what would that make him feel? Responsible— _obligated,_ even? Tobio couldn't stand the thought.

"Tobio?" Hinata said, fingers trailing against the back of his neck. "Can I touch you?"

Tobio nearly sobbed in relief—because that was different, he could answer that— _"Yes..._ yes—"

Hinata shifted him insistently about, helping Tobio lay sideways across his lap. He bent over Tobio, mouth near to his ear, keeping his voice low when he spoke. "Okay. I have you, you're okay."

Tobio felt like a small prey animal—like a mouse, or a rabbit, or a _lamb._ Hinata had him. For the first time, he had been trapped, completely, under a Wolf's gaze. Only, he didn't want to run. He wanted to feel his body being opened.

But Hinata didn't strike, didn't tear into him. He slid his hand over the small of Tobio's back, resting it there.

"You have to tell me what you want," Hinata said. When Tobio's breath hitched, Hinata cupped his chin in the palm of his other hand, reassuring and firm. "Tobio, I _know_ you're not sure about this. So whatever you _do_ want, I need you to tell me. Or I won't touch you."

 _"Okay,_ " Tobio gasped. He didn't know how to explain everything to Hinata, not when he could barely think, from being so, so close to having him. "I-inside. Your—f-fingers—" His face burned, and his stomach roiled, when Hinata didn't move, at first. How could he just start off asking for that, how stupid—

Then he felt something brush against his shoulder. Only when Hinata whispered, _"Tobio,_ " did he realize the Wolf had kissed him there, Tobio's name falling from his lips, breathing hot air that Tobio could feel even through the thin material of his shirt. And then he felt Hinata slip two fingers where he was wettest, to drag slowly against his entrance.

Tobio dropped his forehead to his arms, back arching even deeper as he spread his legs wider. He couldn't speak, couldn't tell Hinata that he needed more, that he was more than ready for it. But Hinata didn't need to be told that.

He circled the fluttering ring of muscle before pushing one finger inside, and Tobio tossed his head back, panting desperately. It was—instantly overwhelming. Having Hinata finally inside him seemed too good to be true, made his head spin and thoughts blank out.

"Oh… _oh,_ " Hinata murmured. He was still bent low over Tobio, and his voice was soft; awed, almost. "That's what you needed, isn't it? All this time…"

Tobio bit into his bottom lip. He shuddered, every time Hinata moved his finger slowly in and out of him, cock jumping as the raging heat in his stomach built to unbearable levels. He liked it—he _liked_ it, even while he could hardly stand it.

But even better was the way Hinata trailed his lips over Tobio's ear when he spoke to him, warm and sweet. "That's it. That's better. You've been dealing with this on your own for so long…"

 _"A-ah—_ " Tobio gasped, as Hinata pushed a second finger carefully inside him. "I just didn't—I thought—" He'd thought he was fine. He hadn't known it could feel like this, that _anything_ could feel like this. "A-are you okay w-with—"

 _"Yes,_ " Hinata said. "You can stop asking—" He cut himself off with a small, slightly delirious laugh.

"Wh-what—"

"You're so," Hinata said, catching himself again. But then he pressed his face into Tobio's hair, and whispered, "I didn't think it was possible… you're so—beautiful, all the time, Tobio, but right now, _god—_ "

Tobio's heart flung itself up into his mouth. He could feel it beating within him, fluttering like a trapped bird inside a cage. There was the insistent, steady press of Hinata's fingers, the unrelenting, slick sound of Hinata working inside him, and all Tobio could hear was—

_Beautiful._

All his life, Tobio had been: too tall. Too disagreeable. Impatient. Stupid. Abrupt. Unappealing.

Lambs were supposed to be beautiful.

"I can't stop thinking about it," Hinata said, "the way you'd look, under me—"

With a long, sobbing moan, Tobio finally turned his head, until they were nose to nose, and he could lose himself in Hinata's familiar stare. "I c-can't—"

"You're fine like this," Hinata reassured him, and then corrected himself. "You're perfect like this."

Tobio squeezed his eyes shut, as everything he was feeling collided and clashed. Hinata was wrong. Tobio wasn't perfect, and he certainly wasn't beautiful. He was red all over, blooming patches of pink mottling his skin, hair sweat-damp and matted, lips and chin wet with saliva, and traces of Hinata's cum. He could barely keep his eyes open, but he tried to look at Hinata as he shook his head.

"I'm n-not, I'm _not—_ "

Hinata curled his fingers inside Tobio, once, twice—and what he wasn't would have to wait. Tobio's whole body shook out of his control, and Hinata pulled his fingers out of him, so he could pick Tobio back up into his arms to sit him between his legs, his solid chest pressed reassuringly against Tobio's back. As Tobio gasped and came, Hinata wrapped a hand around his cock, pumping Tobio through his release as he spilled thick and hot over his stomach. He dug his fingers into Hinata's knee in an attempt to ground himself.

Hinata trailed his hand lightly over Tobio's jaw, and told him that it was okay, it was fine.

"That's good, that's so good," he breathed against Tobio's neck, just above the collar of his shirt. It was warm on Tobio's skin. _"Look_ at you…"

"No, d-don't…" Tobio hiccuped weakly, trying to shake his head. If he looked half as wrecked as he felt, he knew he must look like shit. He let his eyes focus down at his knees, until his vision started to blur from not blinking. What the hell had just _happened?_

But Hinata grabbed his chin between his fingers and turned Tobio's head to face him, eyes fierce.

"You look incredible," he said. "And I just made you come on my fingers. I will look at you all I want. Understood?"

Tobio stared at him wordlessly, before whispering, "Okay."

The hard line of Hinata's mouth softened. "Oh, Tobio…" he murmured. He relaxed his strong grip, touching Tobio's face with his fingers, tracing over his lips, before brushing his sweaty hair off his forehead.

Tobio let his eyes flutter, sleepily. Somehow, this felt as good to him as Hinata bringing him to orgasm had—though in a much different sense. No one had ever spoken to him like this, nor been this gentle with him.

"Tobio…" Hinata said, before Tobio could quite manage to drift off. "I know you said not to apologize but—please believe me when I said I didn't plan for that to happen."

Tobio looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"I…" Hinata bit his lip nervously. "I didn't—I didn't mean to make you do that. I didn't expect you to walk in and you did and I couldn't think, I couldn't…"

"Did you not—want—" Tobio said, and then pushed away from Hinata, twisting to try and look at him better. "Did you not want that?"

"No, that's the problem," Hinata said miserably. "I _did,_ and I didn't… I couldn't stop myself."

Tobio's heart fell from his chest, to the pit in his stomach. He wanted to ask why Hinata had wanted to stop, but he sensed he already knew. Wolf instincts wouldn't have allowed Hinata to ignore a Lamb in a situation like that, any Lamb, even if that Lamb wasn't what he truly wanted…

"I'm sorry," Tobio mumbled.

"What? No, no," Hinata said. He sounded so upset that Tobio couldn't resist, when Hinata pulled him closer again. He slouched in Hinata's arms, ungracefully sliding very low on the bed, and Hinata rested his chin on top of Tobio's head. "I don't want to make this any more uncomfortable for you than it already is and… I mean, I guess that ship has sailed, but, you have nothing to be sorry for. None of this is your fault, I just… I can have better self control."

Tobio felt some of the nerves within him fade away. Hinata wasn't upset at him.

"Me too," Tobio told him.

Hinata snorted. "You've been doing way better than I have, at this point. You're really not mad?"

"Maybe a little mad," Tobio told him, and then swatted at his leg when Hinata laughed outright. "What?"

"Well, maybe I am too! We had an agreement," Hinata said, voice now reproachful. "You were… it was like you were in _pain._ You were supposed to tell me if it was a problem."

"It… wasn't," Tobio mumbled. "I was fine, and then…" And then suddenly, he wasn't. Suddenly, he _wanted._

Hinata hummed, a cross between disapproving and comforting. "And then you were trying to eat me."

"Be—" Tobio spluttered, "be quiet!"

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around, Lamb?" Hinata teased. "I thought I was supposed to devour _you._ "

Tobio sunk lower and lower in his arms, pulling his shirt collar up to cover his face. "I hate you."

"A hurtful lie," Hinata said. "I can tell, you know."

 _"Obviously,_ I know!"

Hinata chuckled. Slowly, he pulled Tobio's shirt down until his face was revealed once more. "Kageyama," he said, and Tobio blinked up at him, dazed once more, caught by his smile. "Do I really annoy you?"

"Yes," Tobio breathed, and Hinata's smile became even sweeter, because Tobio had lied.

"Well, maybe it _is_ better if we find somewhere else for you to stay, like I've been saying," Hinata said.

Tobio scowled. "I already told you, no."

"You can't hold this in again."

"Well, I won't have to!" Tobio protested. "I… not if…" He faltered.

Hinata's eyebrows were climbing. "If? If what?"

"If I… If _you…_ " Tobio swallowed, dropping his gaze. "If you… help me. Every once in awhile."

Hinata was silent for a long time, so long that Tobio eventually snuck a glance back up at him. The Wolf was watching him, eyes thoughtful, but not upset.

"Is that really—is that what you want?" Hinata asked, finally.

Tobio had the grace to look sheepish. "It would… be the best way. But that's only if you're alright with it."

"Alright with it?" Hinata repeated, and then laughed.

"Are you?" Tobio asked, nervously. Now he was realizing how much of an inconvenience it was—how presumptuous _he_ was. This wasn't even remotely in the realm of things Hinata had volunteered for.

Hinata put his fingers under Tobio's chin again, tipping his head back. Briefly, he pressed his lips to Tobio's forehead.

"No…" Hinata said, "no, I don't mind."

His expression was so soft that Tobio had to look away. "Next time, put something in front of the door, stupid."

"Next time, don't just burst in!" Hinata protested, but the ensuing argument was cut short by the shop bell ringing. Hinata grinned at him, wickedly. "You can get it. My hands are dirty."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _returns from vacation with relentless SMUT_
> 
> [[@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


	4. Chapter 4

In the weeks leading up to June, the weather warmed and the forge grew hotter than ever.

Smithing was sweat-drenched toil. Unpleasant as it was at first, Tobio grew accustomed to the feel of it, dripping and rolling down his body beneath his clothes, stinging any cuts or burns on his hands. Hinata soon taught him to wrap a cloth around his hair and forehead to catch the droplets before they got into his eyes.

He'd grown familiar with the way Hinata looked at him, too; and the shiver and the thrill that always shot straight down his spine when he glanced over to find eyes already on him, gleaming in the light of the forge fire.

He liked the way Hinata watched him. Tobio remembered the long, significant glances he'd seen exchanged between Wolves and Lambs who had been courting in the castle; lingering looks and the barest hint of contact, hands touching, fingers brushed across bare shoulders. He remembered the certainty he'd started to feel growing up—that he'd never have anything like that.

Well. He still might not have the bouquets, the bent knees and kisses upon the hand, a promised partner to dance with at feasts. But now he had Hinata.

It was midday, when Tobio found himself being hauled into the kitchen, Hinata's grip twisted into the front of his shirt. As soon as they were no longer in sight of the shop door, he dragged his fingers down Tobio's chest, pressing them into the bulk and muscle developing there from the smithing. The Wolf wet his lips with his tongue, and then yanked Tobio's shirt off over his head.  

"Eager," Tobio noted, shaking his hair out of his eyes once he was free. The shop was empty, but they could get visitors at any moment. Hinata didn't seem to care. He leaned in, and Tobio's eyes slid shut as Hinata licked the sweat from his chest, tongue flicking slowly over one of his nipples.

Hinata looked up at him, eyes hazy and hooded. "You're a bastard."

Tobio fought a lazy grin. He wasn't about to admit to anything, not when Hinata was touching him like this, fingers splayed across his abdomen as he backed Tobio up against the table in the kitchen. Hinata really _was_ eager—and Tobio hadn't had his fill yet, of being wanted like this.

Hinata slid his hands down Tobio's shoulders, biceps, his arms, until he could wrap his fingers around Tobio's wrists, locking his hands down on the table surface.

"And you?" Tobio asked him, going breathless, as Hinata slotted a leg between his thighs. "What's that make you?"

"Patient," Hinata said. "But it's run out—don't pretend you don't know what you were doing."

"I have no—" He broke off, panting, as Hinata pressed his thigh harder against his swelling cock. "—no idea… what you're talking about—"

Hinata called him on it. "Lie."

"Not _entirely,_ " Tobio said. He hadn't done anything purposefully to start off, but his work that day had been rigorous, and it was another hot afternoon. He'd been drenched in sweat and soot, had just wanted to clear some off his face, so he'd pulled his shirt up to use that instead of his dirty hands. When he'd let it drop, it had been to see Hinata had stopped hammering entirely, and was staring fixedly at him.

It took several instances of this happening for him to realize what was going on—Hinata liked looking at him. At his body. 

That was new. That was—good. And Tobio had perhaps gone slightly overboard showing off.

"You were flexing," Hinata accused him.

"I was not," Tobio said, "that's just what happens when I work." Hinata huffed a laugh against his chest where he'd pressed his lips to Tobio's sternum. He was good with his mouth, Tobio had learned, which was only reasonable considering how much he talked. He was good with his hands, too, good with just about everything.

"You want this?" Hinata murmured. Tobio nodded.

Hinata always asked. No matter how Tobio ached, how wet he was, how obvious he'd been about how much he needed it, Hinata always asked first. Tobio wasn't sure if he knew how much this meant—that Hinata never assumed it was all automatic, that just because they were there together, Lamb and Wolf, there was nothing more left to be said.

It wasn't as easy as that—though these breaks had become frequent, and were very welcome compared to the way things had been before, they had yet to do anything more than with hands and mouth. Tobio had only ever had Hinata's fingers in him; the thought of more unnerved him, knowing it was the very same act that led to Claiming.

He had imagined Hinata inside him, like that, and it made him shivery and hot all at once, all over. But every time, he would remember that it would amount to nothing. No bonding, no Claim—not that he would want something so hollow. Even if any Wolf had wanted to consider him, it would only have been because he was a Lamb, and not even a good one, at that.

So he liked that Hinata didn't push him. It made being together feel like more than it was—not just a necessary urge, not just a lapse in control they'd both decided to accept. This scared Tobio a little, because he wasn't sure how their new arrangement might end. But he pushed that to the back of his mind, every time Hinata looked at him like he wanted him.

"Lie back," Hinata told him, now that he had confirmed his interest. He pushed Tobio to get him to recline on the dinner table. Bewildered, Tobio watched as Hinata pushed back the low bench at the table, dropping down to sit so he was right between Tobio's legs.

"Wh—here?" Tobio spluttered, caught by surprise. "We eat here!"

Hinata grinned as he triumphantly dragged Tobio's pants off his hips. "Yes, we do."

"What are you— _oy,_ Hinata—" Tobio said, craning his neck as Hinata ducked down, until all Tobio could see was his orange shock of hair. "Where are you— _fuck_ _!"_

He jolted, hips rising with shock when Hinata spread his ass cheeks apart with his thumbs, blowing a hot stream of air over Tobio's dripping hole.

"Sorry," Hinata breathed, and Tobio groaned at the way it felt when he spoke, as near as Hinata was to him. "Didn't mean to startle you. Tell me if you don't like this…"

It was the first time Hinata had ever tasted Tobio here—and what a revelation it proved to be.

He hadn't ever thought about Hinata licking right at his entrance before, and now he was fairly sure he wouldn't be able to _stop_ thinking about it. Hinata flicked his tongue rapidly, messily against him, a constant teasing sensation that had Tobio's back arched off the table until his muscles ached from being pulled into such taut, shuddering tension. He couldn't honestly believe there'd been a doubt in Hinata's mind that he would enjoy it. The Wolf must have known.

"What, Lamb," Hinata said, voice teasing, kissing the insides of both his thighs as Tobio moaned helplessly, legs spread wide on the table, "do you like having all my attention like this?"

"Oh, fuck," Tobio gasped, stomach twisting as he leaked slick from his entrance at Hinata's words, all of him burning as he realized Hinata had _wanted_ that, "fuck—you haven't made me come yet, so—a-ahh— _ah—_ " He broke off into a series of cries, climbing higher and higher, desperate, as Hinata slipped his tongue all the way inside him now, rolling it slow in his body.

"I'm going to," Hinata murmured eventually. Tobio lifted his head to see Hinata peering up at him from between his legs. His breath caught, watching as Hinata ran his tongue over his wet lips. "Did you know you taste amazing? You're sweet."

"D-don't say that—" Tobio moaned, covering his face with his hands. He knew he must be as red as an apple, from embarrassment and arousal. The thought that Hinata liked the way he tasted was almost too much to consider.

"Why?" Hinata asked.

But before Tobio could answer, the shop bell tinkled. Tobio choked, horrified, and tried to sit up, but Hinata planted a hand on his chest to keep him from moving.

"Shouyou? Kageyama?" a voice called from the other room—Tobio recognized the baker. "Anyone here?"

"Be out in a moment," Hinata called back, and Tobio stared at him with wide eyes. "My assistant's unavailable, but I can help you, I just need to finish something up first."

"Take your time, take your time," the baker called back, as Hinata turned his attention back to Tobio.

"Are you mad?" Tobio hissed at him.

Hinata grinned. He pitched his voice low when he spoke again, and the mischievous slight to it made Tobio's toes curl. "It wouldn't be the worst thing I've been caught doing. Can you stay quiet?"

Tobio glared at him, and laid back down again, covering his mouth with his hand as he spread his legs once more.

"Good boy," Hinata whispered. Tobio's cock twitched.

He could hear the baker puttering about in the other room, just a few walls away. If he happened to look through the door to the rest of the house, he would see the two of them, Tobio flat on his back on the table, with Hinata seated in front of him, head between his legs, mouth pressed to Tobio's ass so he could suck at him, lick inside him. Tobio pressed his palm as tightly as he could to his lips.

He didn't want Hinata to stop. He wanted Hinata to say they were busy, say they were closed, say Tobio needed him—needed Hinata deeper inside him, needed to call Hinata's name as loud as he wanted and damn anyone who overheard.

Instead, he rolled his hips desperately, rubbing his hole against Hinata's mouth, managing to stay almost quiet as Hinata worked him with his tongue. He couldn't silence his whimpering entirely, but it was too quiet to be overheard by anyone but Hinata. He knew Hinata could hear them by the way he inhaled sharply through his nose, the way his fingers dug into Tobio's trembling thighs, every time a sound escaped his throat.

Tobio came silently, too, once Hinata slid a finger alongside his tongue to stroke inside of him. He had smeared saliva all over the palm of his hand, and his eyes, too, were wet from the overwhelming sensation of it all.

Hinata stood, and Tobio struggled to sit up. He felt boneless and shaky and hazy.

"What about—" he started to say, but Hinata stepped in close, a finger to his lips.

"Shhh," he whispered in warning, and Tobio saw he had his pants shoved off as well, a hand fisted around his cock as he palmed himself firmly. "Spread."

Tobio opened his legs again reflexively, swallowing thickly as Hinata let out a long, low sigh. He spilled over Tobio's stomach, his softening cock, his spread thighs, stroking himself through his finish, until his cock had finally stopped twitching in his hand.

"Th-thanks," Tobio choked out, and then immediately felt stupid. But Hinata just grinned lopsidedly at him as he tucked himself back into his pants.

"You really want to thank me?" he said, leaning in to say deviously: "Start scrubbing this table."

At any other time, Tobio would have shouted at him for being a bastard. And he was, Hinata definitely was that. But, Tobio thought, as Hinata went out into the shop to cheerfully greet the baker, some things he supposed he might let slide.

*

The heat began to swelter, and as they worked away, slick with sweat, their scents always heavy in the air, the Midsummer's festival approached.

Much of the flurry of work was due to preparing for the festival. Not only did they need to get ahead of their own schedule, to make up for the time they'd lose during the festivities, but there were many projects to be seen to for the festival itself. In addition to that, they wanted to have their own wares ready to sell.

And there was the matter of Tobio's training, which had taken quite an interesting turn.

They had started up a new arrangement, as Tobio's skill in smithing had increased, past that of creating common household objects. It hadn't been too difficult to convince Hinata to move on to more complicated techniques, ones that challenged even a smith of his skill. Techniques that, though they might have no use for the product, did not take away from the satisfaction of production.

It was no secret to Tobio that Hinata longed to forge swords, had even tried his hand at it on occasion; but he had never seriously pursued the craft, for practicality's sake. But Tobio had learned well exactly where and how to push, in order to encourage Hinata in the direction be wanted. There was arguing with him, an occasional smirk thrown in to get under Hinata's skin as the smith wondered what was causing Tobio's high and mighty attitude. There were insinuations, assertions that perhaps Hinata just couldn't do it and was too nervous to admit it. And of course, challenges—that perhaps one day Tobio himself would learn to forge a sword with a skill Hinata couldn't match; after all, he'd observed it all his life, and his tinsmithing was already at a higher level…

Sometimes, Tobio wondered if this was what he'd never been able to accomplish in his many years growing up amongst nobles. For Lambs were expected to sway hearts, endear themselves to the company they kept and make their suggestions seem palatable and exciting. The political and social possibilities were endless, and one of the primary reasons they were so highly valued as consorts by the upper echelons of the nobility. But it had never come easily to Tobio, he had never known how to say the right words, only the wrong ones.

Until he met Hinata, it seemed.

But Hinata himself was a different breed, more willing to fail in his efforts to prove himself than anyone Tobio had ever known. He might shout when Tobio laughed at him, his face screwing up into various expressions of righteous anger, but he never tried to hide his uncertainties, preferring to try first, ask questions later. How contrary this was to the attitudes of the nobles, who could not afford to lose face, and never showed their hand until they were sure it was a winning one. Tobio had never been satisfied with that. He wanted to learn things himself, not sit and be taught.

Hinata seemed to share this viewpoint with him, and so along with forging swords, they came to an agreement that Tobio would also teach Hinata the finer points of dueling with them.

And so, on the eve of the start of the Midsummer's festival, they celebrated a day's good work with a chivalrous fight.

"Ha!" Hinata shouted triumphantly, as he backed Tobio into a corner of the yard behind the house with a furious flurry of thrusts that Tobio was quite sure would have been comically over the top, were it not for the fact that they were both holding sharp objects. Hinata was surprisingly good, showing skill Tobio hadn't expected even during their early training sessions. Now he was starting to get dangerous.

"What are you… so smug about?" Tobio asked, teeth grit as he parried Hinata's onslaught.

"I can smell weakness," Hinata crowed, and Tobio bristled.

"You can't smell _shit,_ you shitty Wolf!" Tobio snarled, and with a grunt of effort he threw Hinata off.

Hinata's eyes went wide, and his grin even wider, as Tobio pushed him back, pressing the advantages of his height and reach. A few months ago, Hinata may have actually had the upper hand, but Tobio was no longer the lanky Lamb he'd been when he first arrived on Hinata's doorstep. The long hours of work at the forge, the heavy lifting the job required, even the hearty village food had made him sturdy and strong. He was a far cry from being the delicate Lamb anyone had ever wanted, but he was more comfortable in his own body now than he'd ever been.

Which was why he felt confident in winning this fight against Hinata, now that he'd turned the tide… and consequently, why he was so shocked, when a metallic snap suddenly cracked through the air, and the weight of his sword suddenly lessened drastically in his hand.

They both paused, staring, as the top half of Tobio's sword neatly splintered off and fell, into the mud below.

"Wh—oh, _come_ on…" Tobio said. He hung his head as Hinata laughed gleefully.

"In all fairness," he said, "I did warn you."

"You…" Tobio narrowed his eyes. "You smelled weakness. The sword?"

"Yes!" Hinata said cheerfully. "When you forged it. I thought about saying something but you know… teaching moment. Figured you should learn on your own."

"Right," Tobio said, "you were just waiting for that to happen."

"Well… sure," Hinata admitted. "But also… teaching moment."

Tobio scratched his head, glaring at his broken weapon. "Did I not let it cool long enough before quenching it…"

Before Hinata could answer, a loud banging from the front of the building drew their attention. Hinata frowned.

"They're out of luck," he said, "s'nearly dinner time."

But a voice drifted back to them, shouting to be heard. "Oy! Shouyou! You in there?"

"Who's that?" Tobio asked. He could practically see Hinata's ears perking up.

"That's—" Hinata started to say, but before he could explain, a new voice spoke up.

"Stand back," it said. Whoever it was seemed to be trying to sound authoritative, but only managed eager excitement, at best. "I just learned how to break down a locked door from the outside in training—"

"WAIT!" Hinata bellowed, tearing down the side path. "I'm back here!"

Tobio followed, mystified and growing slightly apprehensive as he heard a chorus of rambunctious voices increasing in volume with every step he took.

By the time he rounded the corner, Hinata was already in the midst of the small crowd that had gathered outside his front door. He seemed to have jumped right on the back of one of the figures, and for a moment, Tobio thought they were fighting. But then he heard the laughter, and realized it was much more lighthearted than that.

"Ah!" Hinata's steed appeared to have noticed him, and was now pointing directly at Tobio. "So he _is_ here!"

The whole group turned to look, and Tobio stared back, not sure of how to respond. But Hinata hopped down to the ground, to gesture Tobio forward reassuringly.

"Did you think I was lying?" Hinata asked his friend with a laugh.

"Oh, yes, absolutely," the man replied. He straightened up, and up, and up—his height was extraordinary. "I didn't think they'd ever trust _you_ with a Lamb, even a faulty one."

One of the other men snorted, and Tobio glanced in his direction to realize they were already acquainted. Tall, blonde, and bespectacled, Tsukishima Kei was the village's librarian and accountant-in-training. Hinata occasionally sent Tobio on errands to the tiny library if they needed to take out a small loan, or have the books tallied, and Tobio always spent the entire walk there hoping that he would only need to speak with the older Tsukishima brother. He suspected Hinata never went himself because Kei, the younger brother, couldn't stand him, but he wasn't any more fond of Tobio, either. The feeling had quickly become mutual.

A dark-haired man with a fringe standing next to the giant jabbed him quickly and sharply in the ribs. "This is why you were banned from being on-duty during any diplomatic events, Lev," he said.

Tobio tilted his head. "He's not wrong. I am faulty."

"Not faulty," a quiet voice said. "Just different."

Tobio looked to see who had spoken and blinked for a moment, shocked. "Keiji?"

Standing before him was one of his old peers from the time he had been a child. Akaashi Keiji was another Lamb, but this one born to an eminent duchess and her husband, very highly bred. He was the only other Lamb amongst the nobility that was native to their kingdom, and his parents and Tobio's adoptive family had always been close. Akaashi had been something of a brotherly figure to the younger Lamb; and he had never seemed to share everyone else's disappointments over Tobio's shortcomings.

"Hello, Tobio," he said, with a nod of his head that was as good as a warm hug, "how are you faring?"

"I'm—I'm well," Tobio said, honestly. "Very well. And yourself? How did you come to be here?"

He noticed Hinata hiding a snicker behind his hand, and realized he'd automatically slipped back into his stilted noble's speech. He made a mental note to get Hinata back later; it just didn't feel right, to speak informally to Akaashi, who'd always been very adept at navigating the castle's social circles.

Akaashi looked amused. "Do you want to tell the story?" he asked of the large man standing next to him—another face Tobio recognized, though this time from his days in court. This was Bokuto, a Wolf, and one of the Akaashi family's personal guards. "Or should I?"

"I will tell it!" Bokuto said instantly, and the man with the fringe chuckled.

"What were you expecting?" he asked Akaashi, who shook his head, looking equally amused.

"Lend me your ears," Bokuto said, "so I may tell you the tale of how we set out to reunite—"

"Shouyou wrote me and Bokuto to tell us you were staying with him!" Lev burst out. "And Bokuto told Lord Keiji, and Lord Keiji said he wanted to visit, so Bokuto—"

He was summarily put into a headlock by Bokuto, who clapped a hand over his mouth and cheerfully continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted, Lev struggling under his arm the entire rest of the story.

"Akaashi's family weren't keen on letting him come, especially not now during the festival," he explained. "But I said I'd escort him, of course, and Kuroo was thinking of coming back this year anyway, and of course they couldn't say no if one of the castle's finest guards would be along—"

"Your flattery is unnecessary, but vastly welcome," Kuroo said with a grin.

"It's not flattery if it's true!" Bokuto said, rather proudly. "Anyway, we tried to escape before Lev found out, but it was too late, and he wouldn't get off the back of our carriage, so he's here, too."

"And I," Tsukishima input dryly, "was coming home from the library and had the misfortune to cross their path. And _some people_ don't know how to take 'no' for an answer."

"And now here we are!" Bokuto finished, exuberantly.

Tobio stared at them, before wordlessly turning back to Akaashi. The other Lamb offered a small shrug of his shoulders.

"I hardly got to say goodbye," he said simply.

"I really hope…" Hinata said suddenly, the first time he'd spoken since the entire explanation had begun, "I hope it's alright that I told them…?"

Tobio looked from him, to the rest of the group watching him expectantly, and back again. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"It's fine," he said, and then because that didn't seem enough: "Thanks." Hinata broke into a beaming smile, and Tobio couldn't help but return a muted version of it.

Hinata clapped his hands, then. "Come in, come in!" he said to the group. "We were about to have dinner, help me get out the extra plates!"

Somehow, they all fit at Hinata's table (nearly; Tsukishima slid into the last spot before Lev could, leaving the lanky guard no option but to sit on the floor). The gang were all talkative enough that they could carry conversation on through the whole dinner, sometimes overlapping each other. Tobio let it wash over him, overwhelmed, but interested to hear all the news from the castle.

Along with Bokuto and Hinata, Lev, too, was a Wolf; Tobio might have guessed from his size, though he seemed more a pup than anything else. There were times when Tobio could practically see his tail wagging. He was a castle guard like Kuroo, though the two were quite plainly of differing status. Kuroo, despite the wolfish grin that often tilted his mouth, was human; but he was on track to knighthood, it seemed. Lev, meanwhile, seemed to have no shortage of stories of himself almost being sent back home to the village for all the trouble he was constantly causing.

"You can't be _that_ bad," Hinata said, after yet another tale of near-banishment from the castle, "if they haven't actually sent you home."

"He'll make a good emergency flagpole," Tsukishima said.

"They'll find a spot for you in the guard, as long as you're tall enough," Hinata said, his voice rather dry.

Lev opened his mouth to respond, but for once seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Oy, you've been too quiet, Tsukki!" Bokuto suddenly roared jovially, and the odd moment passed. "What's the news from home, tell us!"

Tsukishima looked instantly regretful he'd opened his mouth.

Once the food was finished and the dishes were clear, it seemed even that group was ready to head for their beds. With the festival starting the next day, it would be an early morning for the entire village. They said their goodnights, leaving through the forge out the front. Tobio stepped out with them.

"You don't have to wake up early tomorrow, Akaashi," Bokuto was saying, "you can sleep in and I'll wake you when things get going."

Akaashi shook his head. "That's alright, I'd like to help. And I always end up having to wake you up, anyway." Bokuto looked momentarily very abashed, until Akaashi said, "It's because you train so late into the night, Bokuto. You should try to get more rest. You're very strong already."

Bokuto's face lit up, and he immediately turned to Lev and said, "See? There's no excuse for laziness."

"I'm strong already, too!" Lev protested.

Tobio looked at Akaashi, wondering if he had to deal with this all the time,  to find the other man was already watching him, his expression pleased—almost relieved.

"I think," Akaashi said, "I needn't have worried. About how you were doing."

"No," Tobio agreed. "But… I don't mind that someone did."

Akaashi inclined his head. "I know it was cold, what happened…" He was speaking of Tobio being sent away. "I think in their own way, they thought they were doing what was best for you."

Tobio nodded. "I know."

Akaashi looked slightly surprised. "Do you?"

Tobio considered this. He glanced back at the inside of the house, the entrance to the forge, where the light from inside spilled into the night, bathing the cobblestones in gold. Hinata stood there in the doorway, speaking to Kuroo—but his eyes slid away to catch Tobio's almost instinctively, and Tobio held his gaze. It had been a nice night, to have everyone there for company. But Tobio realized he was ready, now, to go back inside, for it to be just the two of them. He felt no simmering heat within him. He just wanted camaraderie and quiet, only each other for company, before the excitement of the next day. Hinata smiled at him, only turning back when Kuroo put a hand on his shoulder to bid him farewell.

What had happened to Tobio _had_ been cold, that was true. Yet there was no use in begrudging his parents for it. That was how life was, all too often in that world, and that was all they knew. Expectations were high, were everything, and he had not lived up to them. But with their dismissal, his parents had done the best thing possible for him.

They had sent him some place warm.

"I'm happy," Tobio said to Akaashi.

Akaashi nodded. "I told them I would give a report on you when I returned," he informed Tobio, "and I was going to tell them the truth, no matter what news I had to deliver. I am glad that it will be this. Not for their sake. For yours."

Having said that, he turned mercifully away to continue down the road with Bokuto and Lev, leaving Tobio to blink suddenly hot, blurry eyes at the darkness.

It was something strange, to realize there might have been others who had thought about him, about things like his happiness, so trivial in the grand scheme of things. Months ago, he wouldn't have thought it possible. But that was the thing, about the village, about having grown used to living there with Hinata. In their own way, they'd helped Tobio understand that happiness wasn't so insignificant after all. Even his own.

"Thanks for having us," a voice said, and he turned to see Kuroo ambling down the path, Tsukishima in tow.

"Thank Hinata, not me," Tobio said. "It's his house."

Kuroo flashed his toothy grin. "Right. See you at the festival, I hope. I plan to stop by your stall."

"I'll be there," Tobio confirmed.

He watched the two of them disappear down the road, before turning to head back into the house. Hinata closed the door behind him, but uncharacteristically, didn't launch into conversation as soon as Tobio's attention was solely his. Instead, he looked lost in thought, and kept glancing toward the forge.

Tobio tapped him on top of the head. "What's going on up here?"

Hinata batted his hand away with a slight laugh. "Nothing. Ah… well. I was just thinking over something Kuroo said…"

"Oh," Tobio said, surprised. "What were you two talking about for so long?"

"Well, that's just it," Hinata said. "He saw some of the swords we've been making. He could tell they're still a bit amateur but he… he wanted to buy one."

"Really?" Tobio asked.

"I think he's knowledgeable, isn't he?" Hinata said.

"He's a candidate for knighthood," Tobio said. "So… extremely. Hinata, that's um…" He wasn't very good at paying compliments, but the occasion called for the right words. "That's amazing. Really."

Hinata let out a long breath, and then broke into a smile. "I'm…" He laughed. "It _feels_ amazing!"

Still curious about the group, Tobio ventured another question. "So, you know him and Lev and Bokuto, right?"

"They're from the village," Hinata said. "We grew up together, me and Lev started training at the same, all of that."

"Training?" Tobio asked. "Like, military training? At the castle?"

"Yup," Hinata said, smacking his lips on the word. "Come on, help me clean up, they left a mess, that lot…"

For a little while, the room was filled with the clanking of dishware, the sloshing of water from the pump in the trough along the wall as they scrubbed the dishes. But Tobio's mind was turning. Eventually, Hinata spoke again.

"You're wondering why I'm not still there," he said.

Tobio stopped his washing. The Wolf had already stilled, and was staring into the soap suds.

"I just figured… you…"

"What?" Hinata asked dryly. "That I gave up a life of… adventure and prestige to live here, alone, with my rooster? I guess I do seem simple enough."

"Maybe you like it better here," Tobio said, defensively.

"I do," Hinata admitted, so readily it surprised Tobio. "I like this village. But it's hard to accept a good thing, when you're forced into it against your will. Sometimes it's still…" He waved his hand, dismissively. Like he was clearing the air.

"What happened?" Tobio asked.

"Nothing happened," Hinata said. "That was the problem, I guess. Nothing ever happened, no matter what I did, no matter how much I tried. I was… I'm not what they want in a Wolf, Tobio, you can see that. You know what it's like."

He looked up at Tobio then, his eyes imploring and soft and honeyed, and Tobio swallowed hard. Because he recognized that look; the one that spoke of rejection. And he knew how painful it must have been, for Hinata to have given all of himself, and still be told he wasn't good enough.

"I know… exactly what it's like," he said softly.

Hinata nodded, and Tobio could feel that ever-present connection between them solidify, just a little stronger. "They didn't want me. It didn't matter if I trained harder than anyone else. They said I would never be able to do what was needed of a Wolf, you know, command people, _force_ them to take notice of me… I never wanted to make anyone do anything they couldn't."

"Oh, right, because Bokuto and _Lev_ are utter dictators," Tobio said, disbelieving. Wolves did have their ability to influence others with their commands, just like Lambs dealt in persuasion and subtlety. But not every Wolf was cut from the same rigid cloth.

Hinata smiled wryly. "Of course they're not. But it didn't matter. They used to tell me that my heart just wasn't in it. But it _was_ —it—"

He cut off, shaking his head, and Tobio didn't need him to finish. Because he knew that Hinata poured his heart into everything he ever did. They had been wrong, whoever they were, not to give him a chance.  

He wanted, more than anything, to comfort Hinata—to pull himself into Hinata's lap and hold him close, brush his bright hair off his forehead and breathe in each others' scents, until Hinata was calm and happy and the unpleasant memories of his past were more distant than ever.

But, Tobio didn't know how to do that. Comfort and overt shows of affection weren't ingrained his nature, like they were for other Lambs; and he still wasn't sure of where the line was, with Hinata. But he could still offer solace in other ways.

"They told me," he said, "that I was meant to be one thing. For my whole life. Then when the same people told me… that I couldn't do it, that I wasn't—" He swallowed hard, and Hinata nodded, to show he'd understood. "I didn't know what I was supposed to do. But now I think, maybe there isn't just _one thing._ Maybe, the one thing that matters is that I don't feel like everything about me is wrong, anymore."

Hinata chewed on his lip. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but the silence stretched on for so long Tobio eventually opened his mouth to tell him to spit it out, but,

"Is that because of me?" Hinata blurted, finally.

Tobio blinked at him, as his heart warmed immensely. Then he frowned. "No, it's because of Red."

There was a curious gobble from the door to the kitchen, and they both turned to see Red peering around the corner, apparently having heard the sound of his name. Hinata raised an eyebrow at Tobio.

"Of course it's thanks to you, idiot," Tobio told him. "And you… you're not wrong either, alright? You're just stupid. And loud."

"Thank you," Hinata said.

"And you always pee in the bathwater," Tobio added with a scowl.

"I've lived alone for ages!" Hinata said. "I forget someone has to use it after!"

"Finish washing those so I can dry them," Tobio said, snapping his towel at Hinata, who raised his arms in defense. "We still need to prepare for tomorrow."

"I realized it's better, eventually," Hinata said, after some time had passed, and they had nearly finished the dishes. "When I started smithing, I realized how much I really liked it. Maybe more than I liked the training. But I really liked not having to act like someone I'm not. I think it's the same for you."

Tobio hummed in agreement.

"Alright," Hinata said, now that dishes were taken care of. "We better go check our inventory. Big day tomorrow!"

He bounced off into the forge, Tobio following behind, mulling over the conversation. Wondering whether to say more. But in the end, he figured he'd shared enough, for that night. It was likely unnecessary to say that besides the smithing, he'd also come to realize how much he truly liked Hinata.

*

In his dream, the castle was mostly a memory. Tobio walked through the village, and he fleetingly knew some of the faces, though they faded from his mind when he stopped looking at them, leaving only a lingering sense of welcoming. He passed by the forge, his new home. He came to the woods. He knew the wolves would be there.

He waited for the red wolf to greet him as usual. But when the figure stepped from the trees, Tobio caught his breath. He got to his feet and stared, unsure of what to do.

There was no wolf this time—or rather, there was, but Tobio hadn't expected he would come.

Hinata stood there. Tobio recognized him in a way that he hadn't known anyone in his dreams before—Hinata wasn't a shadow, and he wasn't an unknown face passing by.

His head was tilted as he looked at Tobio. The gesture was familiar, and Tobio realized; he was still looking at the red wolf. Or perhaps more truthfully, he had always been looking at Hinata. He just hadn't been able to see him yet.

But now he did.

 _"Why?"_ he asked Hinata.

But Hinata, just like the wolf, didn't answer.

And so, instead of waiting for Hinata to come to him, Tobio went to him. And when he was standing finally in front of Hinata, close enough to touch him, Hinata smiled.

*

The next day, they both had to be up before the sun rose. Though all their wares were organized, it took multiple trips and quite some time to set up their stall with all their goods in the town square. The morning was just starting to brighten as they finished, but at last, they were able to step back and admire their efforts: a sturdy wooden stall, and several shelves and racks to hold their stock. A roughly hand painted sign affixed to the top of the stall read out _"Wolf and Lamb Smithing"._

"You didn't have to include me on there," Tobio mumbled to Hinata for what must have been the dozenth time since Hinata made the sign. But Hinata finished nailing it to the stall regardless, jumping back to look at his handiwork.

"I know that," Hinata said. "But everyone's gonna be coming around to see what you've done anyway, the whole town's curious. So, why not announce it!" He nudged Tobio in the ribs. "I've got to show off my apprentice, right? Or else I'd seem like a really bad master."

"You are bad," Tobio said, before ducking behind the stall to escape Hinata's wrath, and to start placing items on the shelves.

But Hinata was in a good mood, and he joined Tobio in helping set out their wares without much more than a playful shove. They worked together without words, though not quite in silence—for the town had risen early just as they had, in order to prepare for the days ahead.

As the morning sun began to fold its way over the town square, the air was filled with the sound of people at work, setting up shop, talking excitedly about the festivities to come. There was a group of boys and girls in charge of decorating, led by the grocer's younger daughter, and they took their job very seriously indeed. Tobio found himself frequently distracted by their antics as they strewed color across the town, with streamers and banners and flowers—sometimes even taking to the rooftops, much to the dismay of the elder folk.

The wide, grassy field near the town square bustled with activity—there they were in the midst of setting up all the food stalls and bonfire pit, and the tall maypole. The calls of _"Heave, ho—!"_ drifted toward the square, and steadily, Tobio could see the pole rising, with a great myriad of colorful streamers dangling from the top.

They had never had a maypole at the castle. The festivities there had consisted mainly of feasting, evening parties, and often, courtship. In truth, it had always been a time of considerable stress for Tobio. There were always many visiting nobles, sometimes even royalty from beyond the kingdom's borders. It went unsaid that Tobio and his peers were meant to be on their best behavior. But no matter how well-behaved Tobio managed to be, it did not necessarily make him likable. It was one thing to be quiet; it was an entirely different challenge to be demure. So while he managed not to embarrass himself, or anyone associated with him, the overall impression he tended to leave was lacking at best, and surly at worst. No one cared for a Lamb like that.

But  _just_ a good Lamb wasn't all he needed to be, anymore.

Tobio straightened, rolling his head on his shoulders and stretching his arms above his head. They were nearly done with setting up, and he took a deep breath of the morning air.

"Will we get time to see the festival?" he asked Hinata. The Wolf looked to be busy polishing a set of cutlery he'd no doubt smudged with his usual brand of clumsiness.

"Of course!" Hinata said brightly. "Just let me know when you want to walk around a bit, and I'll manage things."

"Oh," Tobio said. "Is it not possible for us to go see it together?"

Hinata stabbed his finger on the fork tines he was cleaning. "Togeth—yes! Just say so next time!" He shook out his hand and Tobio snorted at him.

"I did say so," he pointed out, grabbing Hinata's hand to inspect it. "How do you not manage to kill yourself when you're smithing?" Up close, it didn't appear that Hinata had broken the skin. This was fortunate; the last thing they needed was for another injury to befall the blacksmith.

"Kageyama," Hinata said, and Tobio looked up at him to see Hinata was smiling at him. "I thought maybe you'd rather see things for yourself. But if you want to go together, we'll just close things up here while we walk around."

Tobio sighed, a little in relief. "It's just that I don't know my way around. I don't know… what I'm supposed to do."

"You're not supposed to do anything, you oaf," Hinata said. "You're just supposed to have fun."

Tobio cocked his head to the side. As long as he could remember, festival days had been about propriety for him. He supposed there was meant to be, in an ideal world, an element of fun about them. Even at the castle, where everyone had been more reserved, less loud and more concerned with appearances, there had still been laughter and a sense of gaiety. That had never extended to him, as tied up as he was in self-consciousness, always all too aware of the perplexed looks cast in his direction, the disappointment that seemed to follow him everywhere at social functions. But now…

"You do know what that means, don't you?" Hinata prompted. "Fun?"

"It means you'll treat me if I want food," Tobio said, and Hinata's expression turned less amused.

"Ah, I understand now," he said. "That's the real reason you wanted my company."

"No," Tobio said, turning to open the last crate they had packed. "It's also because you'll probably just slack off if I'm not here to help watch the stall."

"Oh, you watch," Hinata said. "I'm going to sell twice—no, at _least_ three times what you manage."

Tobio grinned at him. "You're on."

The actual selling wouldn't begin until the next day, however. That first day, there was to be a grand bonfire, for the villagers and visitors to the town alike. The celebrations, Hinata had told Tobio, would continue on long into the night. But Tobio found himself surprised when, upon finishing their preparations around midday, Hinata clapped his hands together and announced with satisfaction,

"Just in time!"

"In time for what?" Tobio asked.

"It'll be starting soon!" Hinata said. "Looks like everyone's about ready!"

All around them, everyone else seemed to be putting the finishing touches on their shops, or were already making their way towards the field. The whole village looked to be gathering there, though for what, Tobio didn't know.

"What's starting soon?" Tobio wondered.

"The festival!" Hinata said, and when Tobio remained confused, the Wolf grabbed his hand and started to pull him along excitedly. "Come on!"

"I thought the festival didn't start 'til tomorrow," Tobio said, trotting to keep up with Hinata.

"Nope," Hinata said, "it begins after the maypole dance! But the first day is meant as a time for everyone to enjoy themselves. We can't properly welcome summer if we're worried about our shops and counting money and a whole bunch of other things, right?"

"I guess…" Tobio said.

"You don't have to guess, I'm telling you so," Hinata said. He laughed when Tobio continued to look skeptical. "You'll see."

The crowd that had gathered in the field was in high spirits. Most seemed to have drifted towards the maypole, and Hinata did as well, but someone called out to them, making them turn.

"There he is! Hinata!"

There amidst the crowd of villagers were some less familiar faces, the three guards who had come from the castle, along with Tsukishima and Akaashi. It was Bokuto who had called out to them, and Hinata gleefully turned in their direction.

It was only upon reaching the group that Tobio realized their hands were still clasped together. Alerted by twin shrewd glances from Tsukishima and Kuroo, he shook his hand free of Hinata's, but Hinata was already talking and gesturing excitedly about something to Lev and Bokuto, and didn't seem to notice.

"We just arrived," Akaashi said, after they'd greeted one another. "As suspected, some people were a little hard to rouse this morning."

"We were up before dawn," Tobio told him. "I've been helping set up our—the shop."

He faltered, unsure of himself. Akaashi and the other two guards would be in town purely to enjoy the festival. This was typical of nobles and the upper class, and would have once been of Tobio himself, but times had changed. Though he trusted Akaashi, he wasn't sure what the other Lamb would think, of Tobio performing so much manual labor. Old reservations gave him pause.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Akaashi said.

Tobio blinked at him. This wasn't something he expected to hear. "I… find it to be, yes."

"It's different," Akaashi continued. "But there's no expectations. That's how I feel, being here."

And that was it, was the whole answer to the question Tobio hadn't known to ask, hadn't quite been able to put his finger on. There was nothing expected of him anymore. Nothing, save for learning and doing and living.

"Kageyamaaaa!" a joyful voice called, and he snorted.

Admittedly, some people may occasionally have more expectations than others.

"Why are you always yelling?" he asked, as Hinata tugged on his arms excitedly.

"To make sure you pay attention to me," Hinata said. "We've got to line up!"

Before Tobio could ask why, it began—a low hum, vibrating brashly through the air. The tone was almost monotonous, but in seconds, another had joined it, a bright counterpoint that whizzed through a playful melody and Tobio realized, it was music.

The crowd suddenly flowed around him, and he quickly lost sight of Hinata, who had obviously been trying to catch his attention to prevent exactly that situation from occurring. Tobio spun, trying to catch a glimpse of the redhead, but Hinata's height put them at a disadvantage. He had disappeared into the fray, and now there was nothing for it but to try and keep up—for the festival had begun in earnest, and the maypole dance was underway.

Somewhat panicked, Tobio found himself queuing up amidst a long line of folk as they began to square off. Though he had been taught all the appropriate dances from a very young age, he had never excelled much in the pastime either formally or informally. Moreover, the music sounded like nothing he'd ever heard at the castle. There the songs had been stately, bordering on solemn. But the sound in his ears now was brisk, almost breakneck, with the way the pipes and strings soared through their merry tune. Wide-eyed, he stared across the row at his dance partner and saw, to his surprise, that he was standing opposite Lev.

Perhaps even Lev could sense his uncertainty; or maybe he just enjoyed sounding knowledgeable about things. But the Wolf grinned at him and said, "You know this one! Just like at the castle—but faster!"

Before Tobio could ask what he meant, everyone to his left and all those to his right raised their hands high above their heads in the air; and as the music tangled together in earnest, so did the whole of the town, in one sudden, great rush, like taking in a great gasp of air.

And Tobio inhaled with them, and joined the fray.

_Clap—clap—clapclapclap!_

Lev grabbed his hands as they met in the middle, and with him as a guide, Tobio understood quickly; it really was just one of the castle dances, only faster, bigger, less rigid and with more room for a celebration as lively as the one surrounding them. Everyone danced in unison and still made the steps their own. One partner might join in the clapping while the other spun away and back into their arms; some danced face to face and others back to back; people ducked in and out of the lines until the rows had dissolved completely; and around the maypole and about the whole field were ever-shifting, interweaving groups, separate and yet all still part of the whole.

It was nothing like the way Tobio had known dancing in all his years before this. The nobles' dances had been beautiful, ordered and precise, sometimes graceful, sometimes forceful and sure. In contrast, the villagers' dance was chaos; but out of the tumult, something just as beautiful emerged.

Tobio found he didn't need to count his steps or watch where his hands were placed or remember what came next. If he forgot, he only had to continue to move, and the dance would find him and carry him along. Lev and he had separated, but another pair of hands caught him up, time and time again—the baker's wife, whose feet flew faster than his own could hope to match; the grocer's elder daughter, who no longer blushed as soon as look at him, and instead laughed openly as she twirled under his arm; even the portly fletcher he'd quite offended his first week at the shop accepted him gladly as they danced side by side with their arms over each others' shoulders.

The entire village surrounded him, danced alongside him, and every step, every new partner, was another reminder of how welcome he was in his new life.

Around him he caught flashes of familiar faces—Bokuto and Kuroo dancing together, though he couldn't be sure if they were avoiding stomping on one another's feet, or aiming for them. Akaashi danced with one of the village girls, a smile playing over his face at the thrill of the moment. Even Tsukishima had been swept up into the excitement; his face was as stony as ever, but two children clung to him, a boy and a girl, one held in each arm. Tobio realized this meant he could avoid having to actually dance with anyone, and surprised himself by laughing out loud.

And right at that moment, the music slowed, softened to something that was still as bright as the season but as gentle as a warm summer rain; and Tobio turned and found himself staring into the most familiar face of them all.

"You look like you're having fun," said Hinata, as he opened his arms for Tobio.

Tobio blinked at him. Hinata's hair was sweat-damp and tousled, nearly falling out of the tie holding it in place. His eyes were alight, and he was breathless, no doubt from whatever exuberant dancing he had been partaking in up until that point. Tobio could smell the familiar scent of his sweat, but it was comforting instead of overwhelming.

Tobio had grown used to the dance, and the faces around him, changing rapidly by that point. But now, he let Hinata slide an arm around his waist, slipped his fingers between the Wolf's and pressed his palm to Hinata's, and felt certain that Hinata wouldn't let go of him, now. Not before their dance was over.

"You disappeared," Tobio said, as they swayed together slowly. "I was looking for you."

Hinata grinned at him. "And now that you've found me?"

But before Tobio could respond, the music returned in full force, no longer slow in the slightest. He yelped as Hinata suddenly whirled them both around, launching back into the dance with a startling enthusiasm. Not to be outdone, Tobio tightened his hold on Hinata's shoulder and hand and matched him.

Hinata, despite all his clumsiness, was a surprisingly good dancer. It might just be his energy that made up for any actual ability he may lack, but even Tobio recognized they made quite a pair, he with his lifetime of dance lessons, and Hinata spurring him on to keep up with his delighted laughter, and the sense of competition that was always there between the two of them.

Hinata's honey-brown eyes were squeezed shut tight against the force of his smile, wrinkled at the corners, each little line a measurement of his happiness. Tobio had never known anyone to be this happy around him _—because_ of him. But somehow, despite not feeling as though he'd changed much himself, he could make Hinata smile.

He smiled back, even though Hinata's eyes were closed and he couldn't see. Tobio smiled because he wanted to smile; not to be agreeable, nor to try and make anyone like him. Somehow, he felt that Hinata would approve.

When Hinata opened his eyes, Tobio didn't look away. It seemed to make Hinata even happier. They danced somehow even faster, even closer together, as the music swelled towards its conclusion. It felt to Tobio like they might as well be the only dancers in the grass. His field of vision had narrowed to Hinata, to keeping up with Hinata, to being with Hinata, there, in that moment.

And Tobio knew, it was more than just within that moment. There was that sense of certain happiness that he got now, from seeing Hinata there before him, from turning and having those arms held out to him.

Because the village had welcomed him, it was true; but it was Hinata who had given him a home.

The music ended with a ringing crescendo, but there was no silence. For now the festival was truly underway, and a cheer went up from all the town as their dance was brought to an end, a great storming of shouting and clapping.

But Tobio and Hinata stayed as they were for just a moment longer, frozen in place even in the heat of summer; fingers intertwined, pressed together, chests rising and falling as they caught their breath.

"That," Hinata panted triumphantly, "is how you kick off a festival."

And Tobio thought he couldn't have been any more correct.

The festival celebrations carried on into the evening, the day slipping by with a surprising quickness. Soon the shadows had grown long, and it was dark enough to light the kindling for the bonfire. The pit the village had cleared was enormous, and once the fire had blazed to life it climbed high, high into the air; the roaring flames must have been nearly as tall and wide as most of the houses in the town.

There was food and drink to be shared, and Tobio found himself seated at one of the long wooden tables with Hinata and the others he'd come to know, as they told many tales and stories of growing up, both in the village and at the castle.

"—so _then—_ Kageyama, you'll want to hear this—we're all standing around these empty pie dishes, completely caught out…" Bokuto said, chuckling, "and, well—I guess lucky for us Hinata always was better at charming curious admirers than our trainers, weren't you?"

"Admirers?" Tobio asked.

Hinata waved his hand, laughing, though Tobio could tell by the point of his nose towards the sky that he was trying not to preen. "There weren't really any _admirers…"_

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. "Oh ho, suddenly modest! You've never told Kageyama about how successful you were about the castle  _outside_ of training?"

"I was successful at training, too!" Hinata protested. "It's just that people outside the guard weren't quite as critical about things as long as I…"

He trailed off, shrugging, but the corners of his mouth were lifted in a grin. Tobio turned towards him, fully curious now. "As long as you what? What aren't you telling me?"

"I'm not _not_ telling you anything," Hinata said, sticking his tongue out. His cheeks had flushed a bright pink, though whether this was from embarrassment or approaching inebriation, Tobio couldn't say. Most likely, it was a combination of the two.

"As long as he was good in bed!" Lev contributed at last, spraying food over them all, his mouth full.

"I thought we were done bringing this up!" Hinata said, though he was grinning from ear to ear.

"And miss the chance to brag about one of our village boys?" Kuroo asked slyly. "Never."

"I was the only option, if you think of it that way," Hinata said. "You and Bokuto had reputations to uphold, and Lev is Lev, so…"

Lev spluttered indignantly. The others laughed, but Tobio was staring at Hinata, now, fixated. Hinata caught him looking and his eyes widened, laughter faltering. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"It's not like I was some sort of… seducer, or anything—"

"No, but you were very popular," Bokuto said. "I still think that's why the guards were so hard on you. Jealousy, that green eyed beast!"

Tsukishima rolled his eyes very pointedly.

"Jealous of what?" Hinata asked. "At least no one kicked them out for being short."

"You know what they say," Bokuto remarked wisely, "unlucky in stature, but lucky in love."

"I don't think anyone says that," Kuroo said.

"I say that," Bokuto told him.

"Lucky in love?" Tobio repeated.

"Just an expression!" Bokuto clarified.

"An expression _only you say,"_ Kuroo said.

"It was only ever—" Hinata started to say loudly, and then shook his head when they all looked back at him. "It was just sex." He turned to look at Tobio. "That's all it was."

"It doesn't matter to me what it was," Tobio said, quickly.

"I know that," Hinata said. "I mean—it shouldn't. Not that I care what—I mean, I _do_ care what you think, I just don't care in this particular—" He shut his mouth, looking supremely frustrated. "What's it to anyone if I'm good in bed, anyway?!"

He crossed his arms, staring challengingly back at them all. Tobio cleared his throat.

"Well," he said, "are you?"

Hinata didn't respond for a long moment, before suddenly drinking from his mug, tipping his head back as he drained it. He slapped his palm on the table, and looked Tobio straight in the eye. "You damn well better believe I am."

The others burst into a storm of cheering, as Bokuto went to fetch another round of drinks. Tobio forced himself to act normally, not to let his eyes linger on Hinata too much; but he was positively bursting with the need to know more. It wasn't entirely hard to imagine that Hinata might be skilled in such areas. Tobio lacked any sort of practical experience whatsoever, but the feeling of being spellbound by Hinata's voice, the heat off his skin, his scent heavy in the air, never seemed to fade from Tobio's thoughts.

Tobio clenched his fists on the tabletop, then relaxed his hands. He'd never considered it before, that Hinata might have actual experience in such matters. It did make sense, given how sure of himself he always seemed. Now that Tobio was faced with the thought, he wasn't quite sure how to feel.

But Hinata's friends were a rowdy bunch, and Tobio wasn't left to sit quietly with his thoughts for long. He found much enjoyment could be had sipping slowly at his own drink, watching their antics. He did get to hear more trickles of information from Hinata's time at the castle—one ribald story about a rich merchant's handsome son, and another even wilder tale about a princess passing through from a neighboring kingdom; but nobody could quite seem to get the details of the second story straight, and as even Akaashi couldn't recall the name of the princess, Tobio had to wonder whether that one wasn't more myth than fact.

Late into the night, everyone's lips had loosened, and they had all had become relaxed and sated. Eventually, talk turned to life in the village, the differences of that life from the bustle of the royal city.

"Seems like you're living much quieter now, eh?" Bokuto asked Hinata, contemplative even through the slurring of his words. "No one in the village's caught your eye."

"Nah… s'too small here, you know?" Hinata said, scratching his head. "Would feel strange, everyone knowing my business. No more… princesses for me." He laughed.

"But you've got a Lamb now, don't you?" Lev asked, sounding utterly perplexed. "Even if Kageyama is the way he is."

Tobio choked on his ale, spluttering explosively as it went down the wrong way on his next swallow.

Kuroo clapped a hand down on the back of Lev's neck, as though he were grabbing him by the scruff. "I think," he said, smile dangerously thin, "that you've had enough to drink tonight."

"Whaaat—"

"What's that… s'pposed to mean?" Hinata asked.

"We-we're not—" Tobio said, trying to speak through a coughing fit, "not like that, we're not—"

"What's it matter… if he's a Lamb? Why's that—what's that got to do with anything?" Hinata demanded.

"I mean," Lev said, "you're a Wolf. Don't you like each other?"

"It's not that simple," Hinata said.

Tobio stared fixedly into his drink, wishing he could block out Hinata's words. Drunk or not, he didn't want to hear Hinata telling everyone how it didn't matter how tempting Tobio should have been to him, yet wasn't.

"It doesn't matter," Hinata said, swaying unsteadily as he stood up, "if I'm a Wolf, or a king, or just—just _ordinary!_ Who Kageyama chooses to be with is up to him. Anyone who tries to tell him otherwise'll have to answer to _me."_

He jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb and nearly overbalanced. Tobio put out a hand to steady him reflexively, but it took him a moment to process Hinata's words. When he realized what they'd been—what they _hadn't_ been, more importantly, not dismissive or embarrassed or awkward—he lifted his head to look at Hinata, as Hinata turned to him, eyes bright with conviction. He very seriously pressed his palms to Tobio's cheeks, squashing Tobio's face in his warm hands.

"I," he said, pausing to hiccup, "want you to be happy. An' I don't— _care—_ if it's not with me."

Dumbly, Tobio nodded. "Thanks."

"You are a… very good 'prentice, though," Hinata said. "Very—hey!" He swung back around to face Lev, and Tobio grabbed his arm to keep him from toppling over. Incensed, the small blacksmith leaned forward, thrusting his finger in Lev's face. "What'd'you mean, 'even if he's the way he is'? What's wrong with… the way he is?"

"Hinata—" Tobio tried to say.

"I trained him," Hinata said, thumping himself in the chest again. "I saw his… potential!"

"We actually had no other option," Tobio said, "and I told you to teach me."

"His potential," Hinata repeated. He nodded. "I think everyone at the castle was wrong. Kageyama's amazing."

"Alright," Tsukishima said, as he stood from the table. "That is all I can take for the evening."

"I think it's quite possible everyone's had enough to drink," Akaashi said, though Tobio knew him well enough to detect his discreet smile.

"I wasn't done talking about Kageyama," Hinata wailed.

"You have definitely had enough," Tobio told him, slightly panicked at the thought of what other things Hinata may have to say about him. "Let's head home."

"Okay," Hinata said. He didn't move.

Tobio tilted his head. "What are you doing?"

Hinata stayed frozen in place, still bent at the waist, hands on his hips. He blinked.

"M'stuck," he said.

"You're what?"

"Don't think I can move," Hinata said. "I'll be sick."

Kuroo laughed. He had already started hauling both Bokuto and Lev to their feet. "Have fun with that."

It was, Tobio thought, a minor miracle that they made it back to the shop without any mishaps. Hinata was a head shorter than Tobio, but he was still very solid; together they very, very slowly walked from the field, through the town square, and up the winding road until they had reached home.

"You alright?" Tobio asked him as he pushed open the front door, but Hinata just groaned in response. "That's what I thought. To bed with you."

He helped dump Hinata into bed, and the Wolf tumbled gracelessly into the sheets, still fully clothed. Hinata whined.

"M'hot," he said, wriggling around as he tried to get comfortable.

"That's because you drank too much, stupid," Tobio told him. He sighed, watching Hinata wrestle with his clothes, before batting the Wolf's hands away to help him untuck his shirt from his pants so Hinata could pull it off over his head. Tobio glanced away, cheeks heating, as Hinata sighed, running a hand over the muscles of his sturdy chest, his strong stomach. His hair had come loose completely, curling soft on his pillow when he lay back against it.

"You know…" Hinata said thickly, as Tobio made to stand, "I don't think Lev was trying to be rude. I might've misunderstood."

Tobio snorted softly. "I don't think there were any hard feelings." Lev didn't seem the type, even if he could remember what had transpired the next morning.

"Mmm," Hinata murmured, eyelids drooping. "But, Kageyama? If you did… want to be happy with me. Then I'd be happy, too."

Tobio stopped breathing, momentarily. He forced himself to exhale, and asked, "You mean… here? At the forge?"

But Hinata seemed to have finally faded entirely, a small smile on his face. Tobio watched him for a little while before shaking his head with a sigh. "You better not oversleep tomorrow," Tobio murmured, blowing out the small candle lighting the room.

He would be getting no more answers tonight, it seemed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I listened to this song on repeat while writing the dance scene](https://youtu.be/nW_s8Z-uE48?t=14) ^^
> 
> Just one chapter left, I can't believe it @_@ Thank you for keeping up with this story, everyone! <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to share this [beautiful art of the dance](http://k-a-r-o-1221.tumblr.com/post/166266306073/yall-have-to-go-and-read-essies-thirst-with-a) from last chapter that Karo drew <3 I still have to work hard not to tear up at it whenever I see it (which makes life tough... it's my phone wallpaper!)
> 
> Thank you all so much for coming along with me as I told Tobio's story <3 I hope you enjoy this last chapter.

Hinata did not oversleep the next day. He awoke with a wicked hangover right as the sun was rising. His entrance was heralded by a loud banging as he ran straight into the doorframe of his room on his way out, followed by an alarmed clucking as he almost stepped directly on top of Red.

"Why is it _necessary_ to make so much _noise?"_ he growled at Red, as the rooster fled the room.

"That question is rich, coming from you," Tobio said, setting a bowl of gruel and cup of water down in front of the blacksmith. He doled out his own portion, with an extra full mug of milk, and sat down to eat as Hinata slumped over sideways, laying his head despondently on the table.

"Kageyamaaaa."

Tobio glanced up from his breakfast. "No."

"When you're done eating?" Hinata asked forlornly, lips smashed to the wooden tabletop.

"We don't have _time,_ we've got to get out to the stall," Tobio said. "Stop lagging about and eat."

"My head huuurts," Hinata whined. "And I feel sick. I need help."

Tobio glared at him. Trust Hinata to put him through an entire night of wondering what all the prior day's activities had meant—the dance, the defense of Tobio's romantic prospects, the drunken declarations—only to act like it hadn't happened the following morning. And then have the audacity to nag Tobio on top of it for his own bad decisions.

"You wouldn't feel sick if you hadn't acted like such an idiot last night," Tobio snapped. "Eat and I'll help once I'm done."

Hinata gave a slightly weak and gurgly cheer, and then began attempting to spoon his oats into his mouth while still slumped onto his side. True to form, once he started eating he remembered his enthusiasm for food, and by the time Tobio was done clearing his own plates the blacksmith had nearly finished his meal.

"I ate and you're done," Hinata sing-songed, as though Tobio needed reminding of his own words. Tobio came around to stand behind his chair.

"Sit up," Tobio told him, and Hinata laboriously slouched into an upright position. Tobio bumped the back of Hinata's chair with his hips, and Hinata sighed and leaned back against him, as Tobio brushed his hair back off his face so he could smooth his fingers across Hinata's forehead.

"Thank you," Hinata said, eyes closed, a satisfied smile playing over his lips. His face relaxed, the creases between his brow disappearing, as Tobio rubbed his temples and pulled Hinata's hair out of its tie, so he could comb his fingers through it.

"Not for long," Tobio said. "We have to go." It was a reminder to himself as much as to Hinata. He worried he could just stay like that for hours, perhaps; watching Hinata's face while he wasn't looking, threading the soft strands of fiery hair through his fingers.

"I know," Hinata said. "But it… I just…"

"You have a headache," Tobio sighed.

"It's better," Hinata admitted. "But I like when you… I mean, I just like having you…"

He shrugged helplessly and trailed off, apparently unsure of how to continue. His smile had faded somewhat, and Tobio continued his ministrations in silence for a moment or two, before the lull became oppressive.

"Last night—" he blurted, abruptly, voice loud in the quiet. Hinata jumped and Tobio winced.

"I know, I know," Hinata said, "I should have held back a bit, especially with today being your first day and all—"

"Did you mean it?" Tobio interrupted. "Or—well, what _did_ you mean, exactly?"

"About what?" Hinata asked.

"What you said last night," Tobio said. "To Lev… and also to me. After we got home."

Hinata opened his eyes, and Tobio stopped his massage, as he waited for an answer.

"I don't—" Hinata began to murmur, but then he shook his head. "I'm—damn it, I really stuck my foot in it yesterday."

"Um, well," Tobio said, because this wasn't untrue, "you said a lot of things. A lot happened."

Hinata dragged a hand over his face. "Tobio… I'm sorry, if I made you… I mean, I guess I do a lot of apologizing for this, but I'm really sorry if I made you uncomfortable—"

"No," Tobio said instantly. "No, that's not… I'm fine."

He _was_ fine, wasn't he? The only problem was Hinata seemed to think nothing of the night before, hadn't seen any significance in it whatsoever. Tobio couldn't ask him if he'd meant it, or if he hadn't truly meant anything at all, without making things awkward himself. Had he been standing up for Tobio out of some sense of obligation? Or even just to be nice? Hinata _was_ very nice, Tobio knew this. But that didn't make his kindness now any less painful.

But Hinata was kind to him when no one else had ever bothered to understand or accept him. And that should be enough. Tobio wished more than anything that it could be enough, where this Wolf was concerned.

But every time Hinata was kind to him, or touched him, or accepted him as he was—Tobio only wanted more.

Hinata squinted at him. "You're not fine."

"I _am,_ " Tobio said resolutely.

"I can tell—"

"Because you reading my heartbeat is _annoying_ , Hinata—"

"Okay, okay," Hinata said, adept at recognizing Tobio's rising signs of irritability, by now. "Just… forget it, alright? Let's get ready to go."

"What about your head?" Tobio asked. He wondered if he sounded any less grumpy than he felt. The answer, judging by the look Hinata shot his direction, was no.

"It's stopped bothering me, now," Hinata said. Tobio did not even need to be able to hear Hinata's heart to know that wasn't true. But Hinata was already standing, stretching his arms over his head. "Come on, let's get a move on."

Things were strange between them all through that day. Hinata was quieter, almost to the point of being deferential; instead of the jabs they usually traded while they worked, he focused more on setting up their stall. He was forever looking in the opposite direction when Tobio attempted to catch his eye, and seemed to find the ground immensely interesting whenever they did converse. He stayed more or less out of Tobio's way, even after more and more people had begun to stop by to see their wares.

He seemed small, Tobio thought suddenly, and this was an odd realization. Because despite Hinata's stature, he never seemed diminished in size; like other Wolves, he always seemed to fill more space than the confines of his body. But unlike other Wolves, it didn't make Tobio feel crowded and nervous. He grown accustomed to Hinata taking up more space. It made it easy for Tobio to know he was always nearby.

He didn't like whatever Hinata was doing now—this sudden embarrassment that seemed to have come over him after Tobio had tried to talk about the night before. It wasn't _Tobio's_ fault after all, the things that had been said and the way Hinata had behaved. All in all, it served to make him very irritable, until he found himself snapping at Hinata over the smallest things, like taking too long to package an item, or handing Tobio incorrect change.

But Hinata didn't snap back or show that he was annoyed himself at Tobio's behavior. Normally he was quick to react to any perceived slights or insults. But presently, though several times Tobio caught him wrinkling his nose, a telltale sign that he was about to retaliate, he swallowed it back with a sigh instead. He looked pained every time.

Things remained awkward and stiff the remainder of the day. Even after they closed up the stall for the evening, Hinata didn't relax as Tobio had hoped he would. He'd thought maybe being back at the festival, around people who may have possibly remembered his blustering, was part of the issue. But that didn't seem the case, as they walked back together in silence.

So that meant, Tobio surmised, that it must be entirely to do with him. Maybe Hinata didn't know how to tell him that his drunken words had meant nothing. Maybe Hinata was trying to figure out how he could let Tobio down gently.

The thought annoyed Tobio. He was used to being let down in ways that were neither kind nor gentle; brutal honesty he could handle. It was this dramatic shift in their dynamic that was truly throwing him off—because he liked the way they had been, far too much to jeopardize it by doing anything stupid, like complicating things with his feelings. But Hinata was an idiot. So if he was going to wallow in uncertainty, Tobio would have to knock him out of it.

"What do you want to do for dinner—" Hinata started to say as they walked through the door. Tobio wasn't having it.

"What's going on with you?"

Hinata paused, just for a moment. He had his back to Tobio, his face hidden. But then he turned around with the same bright grin as always.

"Nothing!" he said. "It was a long day though, wasn't it? You did really well for your first—"

"Fuck off," Tobio said. There was no heat in his tone, but Hinata fell silent, all the same. "I don't—I don't like this, alright? I don't like trying to pretend nothing happened—nothing _did_ happen, so this is stupid."

He didn't allow himself to look away from Hinata, not even when Hinata's smile faded completely. Hinata glanced at the ground again, and angry words began to build inside Tobio, bubbling up and crowding against the back of his teeth, on the tip of his tongue. If Hinata was going to continue trying to avoid talking about this… avoid talking to _him…_

Hinata took a deep breath and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Alright," he said. "You're right, I'm sorry. I told you I'd treat you better than this."

Tobio's anger melted away, to be replaced by something like relief. Even if it was relief tinged with sadness.

"You treat me fine, Hinata," he said. "I just want things to stay the same between us, alright? I don't _want_ them to change."

"You…" Hinata started to say, and then cut himself off. He stared at Tobio. "That was the truth."

"Yes, obviously it… was…" Tobio said. But he trailed off; Hinata's expression had turned suddenly stricken. "What?"

"I—it's just that this whole time—I'd thought maybe—"

"What?" Tobio asked.

Hinata shook his head. "I thought you…"

A horrible thought occurred to Tobio. "That I was what? Just… hoping?"

"No—" Hinata croaked, but Tobio had caught him lying, this time.

"You did," he said. Hot, prickling shame crept over him; he could feel his palms sweating and clenched his hands into fists. He knew after all that had happened between them, it was a lot to ask of Hinata not to think of him that way. "I know what it seems like, but I'm not—I'm _not_ desperate. Just because of what happened to me—I've accepted it! I get that I'm—not normal. But I don't need to be fixed."

"You're not _broken,_ Tobio—"

"I am!" Tobio burst out. "And I don't care anymore! I don't want anymore than you've already given me. I don't _need_ to be Claimed, I don't need a Mark, I don't _want_ any of that shit! I don't—I'm not—"

His voice cracked and he shut his mouth tight. He was _more_ than all of that. He _had_ to be. He didn't want to waste his life anymore, trying to prove he could be someone's other half. He would be enough for himself, even if he couldn't be enough for anyone else.

"I know that, I swear to you," Hinata said. He sounded like he was pleading. "I can _feel_ it when you tell the truth. But I made a—I didn't understand—"

"There's nothing _to_ understand," Tobio said. "It's just that you're—you're the only friend I've ever had. Please don't let who I am get in the way of that, too."

"Idiot!" Hinata shouted.

Tobio stumbled back, startled. Hinata never truly got angry with him, but now Tobio felt it. Frustration and fury, rolled into one, and directed right at him. It made him tremble where he stood.

And then Hinata was rushing at him, and he froze, unable to move—only for Hinata to slam into him and fling his arms around him, yanking Tobio into a hug that he thought might crack his ribs from the sheer force of it.

"If I'm still your friend despite your awful personality, what else could _possibly_ make me stop?" Hinata asked.

Stunned, Tobio stared down at the top of his head. "Hinata…?

"I hate you so much!" Hinata yelled into his shirtfront, which now felt distinctly damp.

"Are you…"

"No."

"Crying?" Tobio asked him, and immediately his own eyes started to swim.

"I am _crying,_ " Hinata said, "because you are so stupid it's _tragic."_

Tobio shoved his face into Hinata's hair, letting the familiar scent calm him before he could burst into tears and truly make a fool of himself.

"I can tell you're crying, too," Hinata said, voice still muffled. "I can smell sadness."

"I hate you, too," Tobio told him. He knew without a doubt Hinata would hear his true meaning.

After a moment's hesitation, he allowed himself to rub his nose against Hinata's scalp, breathing the smell of him in, accepting. It still made him _feel,_ to put it in simplest terms; Hinata made his heart pound and his palms sweat, made him want things he never had before, and was afraid to start needing.

He loved Hinata. And he knew Hinata sensed all of what he felt.

But Hinata wouldn't pull away from him, regardless of what he felt in return. Not until Tobio was ready to let go. And they were fine. From the start, Hinata had promised not to abandon him. They'd be fine.

"I'm hungry," Tobio said, at length.

"Well, make us dinner, then," Hinata told him. He did not appear to feel like moving any time soon, and neither did Tobio.

But there was, suddenly, an interrupting knock on the front door. They both pulled apart, wiping at their eyes, looking towards it in confusion.

"Are you expecting…" Tobio started to ask.

"No," Hinata said, with a perplexed shrug.

They opened the door to find Kuroo standing there, hand raised to knock once more. He peered into their faces, nearly as curiously as they were looking at him.

"Sorry," he said, "have I come at a bad time?"

"N-no!" Hinata said, sounding very surprised. Tobio, acutely aware of how red his face and eyes must be, looked away determinedly. "What can we do for you?"

"Ah, do you mind if I come in?" Kuroo asked. "I hate to impose but… it was a bit of an impulse decision, and I realize I'm running out of time."

Hinata glanced at Tobio. "Er, well, maybe tomorrow would be better?" he offered. This came as a surprise to Tobio. The blacksmith always jumped at the chance to have company. "It's been a long day, and—"

"Hinata," Tobio said, "it's okay."

"Are you sure?" Hinata asked.

"I can come to your stall tomorrow morning," Kuroo agreed.

But Tobio had an inkling as to why he was there. "No, come in," he said. "I'll make some tea."

Once the tea had brewed, they all sat down at the kitchen table. Kuroo wasted no time.

"I'll cut straight to the point," he said, and then chuckled. "I'd like to commission you for a blade."

Tobio couldn't entirely hide his small smile. He'd been right. But Hinata looked befuddled.

"You mean like… a knife?" he asked.

Kuroo tilted his head. "No… I mean like a sword."

"A sword!" Hinata yelped, shooting up straight in his chair. "Me?"

"Both of you," Kuroo said. "Kageyama, you're good with engravings, it appears."

"He's fantastic," Hinata cut in, and Tobio accidentally swallowed too large a mouthful of scalding tea, caught off guard by the blatant praise. "But I've never made a sword for anyone before. The ones you saw before were just practice."

"Right," Kuroo said. "What's the point in practice if you don't put it to use?"

He and Hinata stared at one another for a long moment. Tobio stayed quiet, watching—but he knew Hinata all too well. And sure enough:

"We'll do it," Hinata said. "When do you go back to the castle?"

"At the festival's end," Kuroo told him. "But I can send a courier—"

"We'll have it to you the night before you leave," Hinata said, eyes alight. Tobio felt some of the weariness of the day sloughing off his shoulders, some of the heavy emotions lifting off his chest.

A _sword._ Someone wanted to commission a sword from them. And not just any someone—one of the kingdom's finest soldiers.

"Excellent." Kuroo thumped the tabletop with the flat of his hand, clearly thrilled. "We can discuss specifics tomorrow morning?"

"Tonight," Tobio and Hinata both said at the same time, and Kuroo's lips curled into the most satisfied of smiles.

*

Things returned to normal for Tobio and Hinata, for the most part. Now that Hinata was back to acting like himself, running the blacksmith's stall side by side was fun. They still didn't always agree on pricing, and more often than not got in each other's way, but the arguments and making sales and chatting with those who stopped by resulted in long and satisfying days.

In the evenings, they would stop by the tavern for a drink and some dinner, sometimes with Hinata's visiting friends, and other times just the two of them alone, talking about profit and wares and improvements they could make. And then, energized once more, they would return to the forge, to work on Kuroo's sword.

It was a tense job, to be sure. To make the sword in the month remaining before the visitors from the castle departed, they could not afford to make a single mistake. Given their relative inexperience, this was asking quite a lot of them.

These were challenges faced by them both. But there was one lingering uncertainty Tobio had to endure, one that kept him awake at night, and made him feel like he was trapped in place, unable to ever truly move forward.

After the conversation he'd had with Hinata following that awkward festival day, Tobio had finally come to understand what it was he'd been wanting from himself. But he was still unable to cast off the pull he always felt toward the Wolf. He was worried the words they'd exchanged had made his situation even more pronounced.

They hadn't fooled around or touched one another after that morning. Of the intimacy that had taken place between them the past few months, neither spoke a word. Instead, they continued on as they had been before it had all started—as they shouldn't ever have strayed from, Tobio thought, on more than one occasion. Closed doors and muffled gasps and ignoring the incessant pull between them might be better than making another foolish mistake, than giving in to hope.

Tobio wasn't sure who had pulled back first, himself or Hinata. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. If it was Hinata, Tobio understood why, after the awkwardness that had briefly developed between them. At least they had gotten past it, but it wasn't an issue he wanted to push at. And if it had been him, if Hinata had sensed his own reluctance, then he couldn't suddenly change course once again. Hinata deserved better than being at the beck and call of Tobio's confused whims. And so he had begun to ignore what had become second nature for a time, reaching out to Hinata when he needed him, needed the Wolf's warmth. The painful part was being aware that he was turning away from one of the best things he'd ever had.

But they had also reached a new turning point. Tobio felt the existence of something almost fragile in their friendship, now, but it wasn't an unwelcome sensation. It was almost, he thought, like taking care of a baby bird—something too uncertain to survive on its own, at first; but with time, nurtured and loved, it might fly.

Hinata wasn't just his friend. Tobio could now sometimes admit to himself, with such an intense thrill of joy that he could never contemplate the sentiment for very long—Hinata was his _best_ friend. And Tobio was almost, fairly, mostly sure that he was Hinata's.

Tobio had never allowed anyone to know him as well as Hinata. It wasn't just his poor attitude that had frightened them all off—though that had contributed quite a bit. He hadn't wanted anyone to know how isolated he'd felt and either mock or pity him for it, so he had never expressed it out loud before.

But Hinata had crept past that particular barrier; maybe because Tobio's bad manners only seemed to make Hinata try to get under his skin, get ever nearer to him. And if he couldn't be scared away by Tobio's demeanor, or his loneliness…

If Hinata didn't mind being his only friend, what else might he be unopposed to? The thought occupied most of Tobio's empty moments of consideration, now, as much as he tried to push it off. He didn't have time for such things, he tried to tell himself. They had too much work to do.

The days were difficult and demanding, between tending to the festival stall and forging the sword. But this was work to be proud of—backbreaking and unforgiving, but accomplished with their own two hands, whether it was selling a piece at the stall, or striking their hammers against the scalding metal. And they were doing it together, sharing the burden. They were partners at that forge now, and that made the load feel feather-light, to Tobio.

To finish Kuroo's commission on time, they had divided up the work. Tobio took over the time consuming, but less skill intensive task of hammering and folding the metal into the shape of the blade. This took many, many hard hours of laboring over the anvil, nearly melting in the heat of the fires and summer nights. He must have sweat his weight before the sun came up, he thought more than once, but it was important work, because it freed the blacksmith up to attend to the task of forging the hilt.

This was the true challenge in making a sword. Even a masterfully crafted blade, under the constant stress of crossing with others in battle, would crack, and eventually break. It was the hilt that would endure, be passed down through the generations, or perhaps from knight to squire, if the younger was worthy enough.

So this was where Hinata focused his attention. It was not a horseshoe or a door handle or a set of silverware; but he'd never dreamed of making those things. He had dreamed of armory work—and Tobio could see, with the firelight reflected in his eyes, that Hinata might be happiest at work like this.

It was these moments that proved most difficult for Tobio—something about seeing Hinata dreaming, because it was something Hinata had only begun to do now that the two of them were working together. And Hinata knew it, too, judging by the way Tobio caught his stray glances, every so often. The Wolf's eyes didn't hold lust or curiosity; only gladness. It made Tobio's breath hitch in his lungs, the way Hinata watched him sometimes. It was often when he wasn't looking, but when Tobio noticed, Hinata wouldn't look away, though he usually looked a bit sheepish at being caught. But then, he would always smile.

And Tobio wanted to tell him it was alright, that this was another thing he somehow didn't mind Hinata did, even though he'd always hated being stared at before. But Hinata didn't stare at him like he was some unfinished work in progress.

He always smiled like he was just happy, to have looked up and found Tobio there at all.

It thrilled Tobio as much as it scared him, to be looked at like that. His old life had been all about grand expectations; but it was these small, everyday ones that he was most afraid of not living up to.

One evening, instead of simply watching, Hinata drifted toward him instead, to see how his work was going. Despite the cloth draped over the back of his neck, a meager attempt to try and soak up some of the sweat he'd worked up while laboring away over the sword hilt, the scent of him fell heavily over Tobio, growing stronger the closer he got.

"How are you coming along?" he asked, as Tobio stopped hammering for a moment, to catch his breath. "Not sore?"

Tobio shook his head. He was being untruthful, because his arms ached, but he didn't want to admit he was tired. But it was no use trying to get away with a lie, even a small one, around Hinata. The Wolf's smile was a dead giveaway that Tobio hadn't fooled him in the slightest. But instead of needling Tobio about it, Hinata nodded.

He reached out and ran his fingers lightly over Tobio's arm, lips pursed. Tobio froze under his touch, but didn't move away.

"You're still not used to this," Hinata said, and for a moment, Tobio lost track of what he meant—no, he wasn't used to being touched so carefully. But he didn't dislike it, not at all. But Hinata continued on. "You don't want to hurt yourself."

No, he didn't, Tobio thought, even as he realized Hinata was talking about his physical limitations. But this was an ache of a different sort.

"I'm… I'm okay," Tobio mumbled, still enjoying the soft trailing of Hinata's fingers on his skin, as Hinata gently kneaded the muscles beneath. "I… _ah_ , Hinata…"

He gave in, a little bit, letting his head lower until he could feel Hinata's soft hair brushing his forehead.

"You've been working really hard," Hinata murmured, and Tobio shivered, at the lowness of his voice. "Do you need to take a break?"

Though he knew Hinata didn't mean it in the old sense, they had found other ways, to ease all the pent up physical tension, a little bit. Their time was too precious to waste idly, but as they already enjoyed their work, having the moments in between be functional was no great hardship. They used the time to spar against one another, putting both the practice blades and Tobio's evolving skill in making them to the test.

Though it was a different kind of break than the ones they needed to take in private, their sparring matches served a similar purpose. Tobio had better control over himself now, but more importantly, just being near Hinata, being able to be honest, without shame or the need to hide the instincts he couldn't help, made his feelings that much more manageable.

But tonight felt a bit different. Tonight, he wanted to lose himself in the thrill of their fight.

Tonight, Tobio could sense it—the balance and weight of the sword in his hand, the way the impact of each blow reverberated up his arms, even the sound, clear and ringing, with every strike.

Tobio's early attempts had not been strong enough. Without fail, the blades had all cracked or broken, when faced by Hinata's furious assaults. But neither could Hinata beat him in a fair fight, only ever managing to steal victory when Tobio's weapon inevitably fell apart in his grasp.

Hinata, too, had been learning, little by little. He had finally started operating on more than his instincts and scarily fast reflexes. The way he watched Tobio's movements was calculated, like a true soldier's, his old castle training showing through. It had become ever harder to feint or otherwise trick him.

He was fast, and dangerous. Tobio was struck once again by how foolish Hinata's old trainers had been, to overlook him the way they had.

"Stop thinking so hard," Hinata said. "Come at me with everything you've got." His voice was a challenge, and Tobio felt his blood boil to match.

With renewed energy he struck out, nearly catching Hinata off guard. In sparring matches before this one, his blades had all crumbled beneath the force of their blows, but not this one—he could see the same realization in Hinata's expression. This was a sword edge that would stand up in battle.

And rather than break, this weapon would need to be defeated fairly—by an opponent who could gain the upper hand. And no sooner had Tobio thought this, than his excitement over his own accomplishment was followed by surprise, as Hinata turned the tables on him, striking back and managing to knock the sword clean out of Tobio's grasp, sending it spinning into the air.

Panting, Tobio stared at Hinata, steeling himself for the triumphant teasing that was surely about to happen. But Hinata was staring at the sword where it had landed.

"It didn't break," he murmured, so soft Tobio could barely hear him.

"No," Tobio huffed, "you win."

Hinata didn't respond. He walked over to pick up the sword, and Tobio watched wordlessly, as Hinata turned it over in his hands, inspecting it. Tobio felt like he should be more annoyed—maybe would have been, once. But Hinata had beaten him fair and square, and Tobio had been the one to teach him to duel like that. Like he should have been taught in the first place, at the castle.

"Tobio," Hinata said, more urgently, "you _did it."_

"Did… what?" Tobio shook his head. "I didn't—"

"You forged a sword!" Hinata finally exclaimed, so loudly and happily it startled Tobio. "This is a blade worthy of a knight. Do you… understand how amazing that is?!"

Tobio stared at him. Hinata didn't even seem to have noticed he'd lost. Instead, he was beaming at Tobio; he looked fiercely _proud._

"I…" Tobio swallowed. "It still took me ages. I've been trying for weeks and…" He trailed off, the words drying to a whisper in his mouth.

He had done this—he'd set his mind to something, and he had achieved it, with time and… and encouragement. It was something to be proud of, and Hinata knew that. He wanted Tobio to know it, too.

He sucked in a breath, when Hinata took his hand. But the Wolf only uncurled his fingers, and slid the sword hilt between them, closing Tobio's hand around it once more. Tobio frowned. Hinata's hands were shaking.

"Are you—?"

"Fine!" Hinata said. He pulled his hands away quickly and grinned at Tobio. "Just tired. But… we did it, huh?"

"Yes," Tobio said. He gazed down at the blade he held. "Thanks for letting me… thanks for trusting me."

Hinata only looked at him. He was still smiling, but his eyes crinkled and tightened around the edges, and for a moment, his expression wavered between happiness and something at odds with it, something Tobio couldn't place.

"Shouldn't I be telling you that?" Hinata asked. Before Tobio could question this odd response, he looked away, stretching exhaustedly. "We should both turn in a bit early—I can't believe this year's festival is nearly over… I'm going to sleep for a year after tomorrow."

That sounded like a good plan, Tobio thought, as he followed Hinata's lead. They still had dinner to eat, but settled on something easy, soup and bread; and then it was off to bed, yawning and shuffling their feet as they went. Tobio toppled into bed gratefully, though he was well aware he had to be up in just a few short hours. Just one more day of the festival. And after that, back to that quiet life of theirs.

He drifted off, but he was barely asleep before he started dreaming.

In this dream, he found himself back at the castle.

To have suddenly returned to that place was disorienting. It had been so long since he'd seen it last, either awake or in dreams. The castle had always been many things to him, not all of them pleasant. But he had still known those stone walls and winding paths and open courtyards. Now it was something it had never been before. It was unfamiliar.

He was alone.

Not as he had used to be, isolated and shunned, but truly. Completely alone. Not a soul save for himself moved in that space. There were no whispers. The only sound he could hear was his own breathing. The castle was completely empty.

_Isn't it enough, what I have now?_

He ventured through the silent, empty halls of the castle, until he had reached the doors to the outside. Pushing them open, he found the village, once more. Bright and sunny as ever.

But it, too, was deserted.

There might have been people there moments earlier, or perhaps there had never been. It seemed frozen in time, more so than even the castle, because Tobio was used to how alive this place always was. But there were no animals, no people in the streets. Even here he was alone, and now, he started to feel uneasy.

He didn't want to be alone here, because this place had made him feel, for the first time in his life, as though he didn't have to be.

He walked faster, faster, and then came upon the forge. Smoke rose from its chimneys, he realized, and he rushed forward, but it was all locked up. There was no movement or sound from within, just the columns of grey cloud twisting up into the blue summer sky.

_It's alright if he doesn't want me the way I want him. I don't deserve any more than that._

He started to run, gave into the anxious urge building within him. He ran from the silent forge, and soon found himself in the woods, where surely, surely they would be there, like they always were…

But the woods, too, were abandoned, the trees stood alone, and there were no eyes peering from the darkness. The ones who had judged him had finally left him, and he no longer felt them at his back; for he no longer put stock in their words and watchfulness.

But neither did another emerge from the trees. No wolf or Wolf came forth to meet him, to stay with him until he woke.

There was just a voice now. One last voice that was unsatisfied. That still thought he might never live up to expectations.

_I have to be enough for myself. I can't expect any more than what he's already given me._

But no matter how he told himself these things, no matter how much happier he was now than he'd ever been before, he couldn't stop himself from _wanting._ He couldn't stop himself from feeling _everything_.

He was still alone. He slowly raised his face to the sky, tilted his head back, closed his eyes.

 _"Why?"_ he asked the silence.

 **_"Why don't_ ** **you** **_ever listen when I answer?"_ **

Tobio opened his eyes. There was no one else there. But he knew that voice. He heard it every day.

He loved it.

 _"You never answer me,_ " he told it.

 **_"I_ ** **always** **_answer you,_ " ** it replied. **_"But you never seem to hear me."_ **

_"I'm listening now!"_ Tobio cried out. _"What is it?"_

**_"Wake up."_ **

_"No! Not until you tell me."_

**_"Tobio, wake up._ " **

_"Please—Hinata—_ "

"I'm right here, _wake up—_ "

Tobio woke with a gasp. It was still dark in the room. For a moment, they lingered, the feelings the dream had left him with; doubt and confusion and a sense of loss. But presently, he became aware of something else—someone else, sitting beside him.

The familiar comfort of fingers, stroking through his hair, made him relax again, sheets falling away from his hands as he unclenched his fists. He blinked to try and adjust to the darkness, turning his head shakily.

Hinata kneeled by the edge of the bed, the dark circles under his eyes making them look even heavier with what Tobio assumed was weariness. Guilt rankled at Tobio—Hinata had already been so tired.

But Hinata just gave him an exhausted smile, resting his palm against Tobio's cheek, and when Tobio rolled towards him, the Wolf put his arms around him readily, holding him tight.

"It's alright," Hinata murmured. There was something about his voice, that curled around Tobio to ward off the sadness that had come with the dream. "You scared me a bit, though. You wouldn't wake up…"

Tobio buried his face in Hinata's neck. "I'm sorry," he said.

"That seemed like a bad one," Hinata said quietly. He kept threading his fingers through Tobio's hair, trailing down the back of his neck. He was warm, Tobio realized, hot, even. His fingertips were wet with perspiration.

Tobio pulled back, intent on sending him back to his room, and to sleep he clearly needed. "It was—" He shook his head. "It's fine, they're just…"

"You haven't gotten one in a long time," Hinata said, and Tobio froze.

Hinata didn't seem surprised, at finding him caught up in a nightmare. He seemed sad they'd come _back._ Which could only mean…

"How long have you known I have them?" Tobio asked. "The dreams?"

"Ah… I'm not sure," Hinata said. He sounded embarrassed. Tobio didn't understand why; _he_ was the one who should be embarrassed, not Hinata. "You had the first one right after you came here, I think."

"Since then?" Tobio stared at him. "This whole time, you never said anything?"

"If I said something, you'd've been upset," Hinata said. "Besides, it seemed to be working… I thought they were going away."

"What's been working?"

"This," Hinata said. "Sitting here? I know that's… strange. I was too nervous to tell you… I just didn't know what else to do, and you are in _my_ care."

For a long moment, Tobio couldn't understand what he meant.

Then he remembered—how Hinata's hands in his hair had always felt familiar, how it always calmed him even while he was awake. The first time he'd had the dream while living in the village, his hair had been pushed back off his forehead.

There was the pillow that had fallen from his bed to the floor—one was missing now. It hadn't fallen that first time, he realized; Hinata had taken it to sit on.

He remembered the last dream he'd had, how Hinata had been awake before Red had started crowing when he'd woken.

Hinata had been coming to him whenever he had the dreams. He must have stayed with Tobio for hours, some nights.

"It's been you," Tobio breathed, stunned. "You're the reason they've been getting better, the dreams?"

"I hoped maybe they had been," Hinata said. "I'm glad."

"Hinata…" Tobio said, "I'm—you've been doing this every time? Shit—"

"I'm not sure! I don't even know if I've woken up for all of them," Hinata reassured him. "It's just been the times when you…" he hesitated, and then said, "…whenever you call out for me."

Tobio pushed himself up onto his elbows, looking wide-eyed at Hinata. His face had flooded with a mortified heat.

"You—you should just ignore me."

Hibaya grimaced at his words, sighing. "Why would I do that?" he asked. "I would never want to."

And, with a shock, Tobio finally understood. He _hadn't_ been listening. Everything Hinata had done for him was the answer to the question Tobio kept asking, over and over. Tobio hadn't been able to hear it. His own uncertainties had always drowned it out.

But he was listening, now.

"Hinata? You really—"

He nearly choked, swallowing the words that were so hard to say. Frightening, because they had never been true before, and for that reason, he had tried to pretend they never mattered. But they mattered. They mattered because whether or not he had ever been a proper Lamb, he was still only human.

"You really do care about me, don't you?"

Hinata laughed at him, but it was only sweet. "No, idiot," he whispered fondly, "I can't stand you."

Tobio bit his bottom lip, as Hinata leaned up to press their foreheads together, cradling Tobio's face gently in his hands.

"I hate you," Tobio said, helplessly. It might be obvious to Hinata, but how could it have been, to him? People took obvious things for granted. And Tobio hadn't been able to afford that, not until he was sure.

He felt like he was ready to be sure.

"That first night of the festival," Hinata said, "I thought I'd ruined everything. When you asked me if I meant it, I thought I'd told you something you didn't want to hear, I couldn't remember what I'd said—"

"You couldn't—" Tobio laughed, disbelievingly. "You told me if I wanted to be happy with you, you'd be happy, too." 

A soft smile spread across Hinata's face. "That wasn't clear enough?" 

Of course, it was now. It had just taken a long time, for Tobio to be ready to hear it, to understand what Hinata was saying.

"I want you to be with me. I care about you," Hinata whispered, and Tobio reached for him in return, pushing his hands into Hinata's hair and clutching tight. He shut his eyes as Hinata brushed kisses over his cheekbones. "Not because of what we are. Not because of what anyone expected you to be. Do you understand?"

Tobio nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Is it alright?" Hinata asked him next, and Tobio stared at him, at a loss for how to respond. He couldn't understand how Hinata might think it wasn't alright, not with how consistently and desperately Tobio had latched onto his affection.

"It's alright," Tobio told him, voice escaping him hoarse as his throat tightened and his eyes burned.

"You said, you wanted things to stay the same between us," Hinata blurted out. "That you didn't want them to change. You weren't lying, then." He sounded scared to remind Tobio, and Tobio realized where the root of all their misunderstandings lay.

He had been afraid of Hinata caring about him. He'd rejected the idea, and Hinata, right out—on more than one occasion. He'd told Hinata he hated Wolves from the start.

"I was wrong," he said. Hinata stared at him, utterly focused, and Tobio struggled to find the words to explain. "I didn't think it could change—into something like this—"

He had just never thought to presume what they had could be even better—that it could be what he so clearly wanted, yet was too afraid to acknowledge.

"I—I think I _need_ it," Tobio said. He felt as though he couldn't breathe. "I need you…"

Hinata gasped—a shaky, shivering noise, almost pained—and pulled away.

"You… you have me," he said, as though it were a great effort. "But we—sleep, we need sleep. In the morning… we'll talk more."

"W-wait—" Tobio started to say, because he didn't understand. Suddenly even the morning felt too far away—how could Hinata just leave, after this?

"In—in the morning, Tobio," Hinata said again, "right now, I—"

He stood, unsteadily, and then staggered, falling heavily against the wall across from Tobio's bed. Tobio tossed back his blankets, alarmed.

"Hinata? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," Hinata panted, clearly anything but fine. He leaned into the wall, body curled around himself—he was shaking violently, Tobio realized. "I'm just—I need to get back to my own room."

"Are you hurt?" Tobio asked. "Why didn't you say something? Let me—"

 _"No!"_ Hinata said, so sharply that Tobio recoiled. "No—I'm sorry, you can't help with this—"

"With _what?"_ Tobio demanded. He wouldn't be intimidated, not now. "Hinata, _tell_ me, I'm—I'm _here_ for you, too!"

"You can't tell me you need me!" Hinata said urgently. "You can't say that to me, _not right now—"_

"Why _not_ right now?" Tobio asked. "You asked me if I understand, and I finally do! I need you so much—"

 _"Fuck,_ " Hinata cried out, and Tobio fell silent, at hearing the way his voice broke. "My—my heat. I'm in—I'm in heat. Oh, god—oh, my god, it _hurts._ It's never been bad like this—"

He was sinking, sliding down the wall like he'd finally given up, his voice fading to a whisper. He didn't say a word when Tobio climbed out of bed, slowly approaching him, to crouch by his side.

"I didn't know," he said. He'd never been around a Wolf in heat, and even if he had, he wasn't sure he'd have been affected. But Hinata was different. He wondered if that had been the reason for his dreams becoming suddenly tumultuous again—matching Hinata's rising, out of control emotions.

"You weren't supposed to find out," Hinata said. "I'm fine. I'm g-going back to—"

"Stop," Tobio told him. "Stop trying to get away from me suddenly." He didn't like that. Hinata had never pressured him, but he'd never tried to run from Tobio, either.

"Why can't you understand?" Hinata moaned. "I need you to leave me _alone—"_

"No," Tobio said. "You need _me._ Right now."

Hinata froze. He didn't look at Tobio—and Tobio suspected it was because he was using the very last of his energy to hold himself back. But Tobio didn't want that.

"I need you, Hinata," he said again.

He found himself knocked flat on his back on the floor, as Hinata crawled on top of him. Tobio spread his thighs apart wide, to fit around Hinata's hips. The Wolf felt perfect between his legs. They'd never lain together quite like that—as intimately as they would need to, for Hinata to be inside of Tobio.  

"Please be sure," Hinata whispered, even as he ducked his head to mouth at Tobio's neck. Tobio whined, as Hinata closed his teeth slowly over the beating pulse of his throat.

"I am sure," Tobio gasped. Hinata's hands were on him now, and Tobio arched into his touch when Hinata smoothed his palms down over his chest, then firmly over his hips. It had been days and days since Hinata had touched him at all, let alone like this. His touch was hot, a firebrand wherever it lingered. His fingers dug into Tobio's flesh possessively.

"I don't want…" Hinata trailed off into a low groan as Tobio shoved his fingers into his hair, pressing Hinata's face into his neck where he knew his scent would be strongest. "You said you hated Wolves. I want—I've _needed_ to be more to you than just that, I don't want to make you hate me too—"

"I can't," Tobio said. "Not you."

For a moment, he was afraid from the silence that Hinata might not be able to believe him. But Hinata just nodded, and kissed the hollow of his throat, lips lingering.

"Then," he said, voice hoarse, "will you come to bed with me?"

Tobio knew he didn't need to say yes—but he did anyway, as Hinata pulled him to his feet. They were both shaky, stumbling through the door, and it was Hinata who fell onto the bed first, legs almost giving way again. He laughed, almost disbelieving.

"Tobio, here," he said, and Tobio stepped to the edge of the bed.

Hinata's hands found his hips and worked his loose pants off slowly. As soon as they'd fallen to the floor he hauled Tobio forward—a little rougher than either of them expected, it seemed, and Tobio let out a startled grunt as he tumbled forward into Hinata's lap, hands braced on the wall on either side of Hinata's head.

"Sorry," Hinata mumbled, fingers already at the bottom of his shirt, and Tobio grabbed it by the collar to yank it off over his head as Hinata stared up at him.

And stared. And stared. He traced his way up Tobio's body with his eyes and his hands, mouth dropped open in what seemed, unbelievably to Tobio, like amazement. His fingers moved in a slow slide up Tobio's stomach and chest, as his gaze raked over Tobio's skin. When their eyes met, Tobio could see Hinata's were soft, hazy with desire.

It was far from the first time Hinata had seen him naked, but it felt different to all the rest, and that was what led Tobio to ask his next question.

"Can I… can I kiss you?" Hinata gaped at him, without a response, and Tobio rambled on nervously. "W-we just never have, and I know you probably just need to—fuck me right now, but—but I really—"

He broke off, as Hinata slid a hand against the back of his neck, leaning up, dragging Tobio down at the same time—and then their lips were meeting, as Hinata kissed him for the first time.

His mouth was warm, a little sour after having woken from sleep, but Tobio licked into him with an eagerness that surprised them both—Hinata inhaled sharply through his nose and brought his hands to cup Tobio's face between them again, less cautious now. Craving. His taste gave way to sweetness, that same heady smokiness Tobio always smelled off of him, as he dragged his tongue against Tobio's in slow, languid strokes.

"I'm sorry," Tobio mumbled, words muted by Hinata's lips, "I'm so sorry—"

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Hinata said, catching Tobio's bottom lip between his own. Little nibbles, no ravenous bites, like Tobio had prepared for. Hinata was starving, but he would hold back for Tobio, no matter what.

"I didn't realize it hurt you," Tobio said, with a gentle rock of his hips. Hinata groaned.

"I could handle it," he replied. "It was just—it was worst not being able to tell you—to show you how much you mean to me…"

Tobio kissed him again, just because he could. "What do you want from me?"

"I want… you to let me make you feel good," Hinata whispered against Tobio's lips. "Whatever you want me to give you, I will."

"How could I say no to that?" Tobio asked.

Hinata huffed. "You _don't."_

Tobio wanted Hinata to have him, finally; to ease the burn of his heat. Because from the moment they'd met, Hinata had been willing to give everything to him. Tobio just hadn't known it yet.

"I want you, then," Tobio said. "Give me all of you."

"I can do that," Hinata murmured, trailing his hand against the small of Tobio's back, and lower. Tobio nodded and nodded, head falling back when Hinata slipped his fingers against his entrance.

"Stop—wasting time then—" he gasped, and Hinata huffed a slightly unhinged laugh.

"I can't just—"

"Yes, you can," Tobio said. He wound his fingers into Hinata's hair. "I want your cock, Wolf— _give it to me."_

Hinata shuddered underneath him, pushing his fingers into Tobio, and Tobio moaned out a sigh of pleasure. It had been too long since he'd had this—his whole body had been waiting for it, and he had been denying it. He couldn't imagine how Hinata felt.

"You're making this very difficult," Hinata said, teeth grit, and Tobio felt only slightly guilty. Not much longer to wait.

"G-good," Tobio panted, as Hinata stretched him, three fingers deep—he was easy tonight, used to taking Hinata's fingers and wanting so much more now, besides.

"I really don't think I can—hold out much longer—" Hinata told him, voice strained, and Tobio pushed up onto his knees.

"Then don't," he said. "I'm ready."

Hinata nodded, biting his lip. He pushed his pants down, his cock springing free, red and leaking. Tobio moaned.

"If you don't want this, we shouldn't—" Hinata started to say, sounding pained, but Tobio cut him off.

"I want it more than anything," he said. "So shut up and let me do this."

He couldn't believe either of them had held out this long. He gripped Hinata's shoulders hard, and Hinata held his hips steady as he lowered himself.

Hinata's cock was hot at his entrance, the head thick where it pressed against him. Even after being stretched on his fingers, Tobio could tell—that would be nothing compared to this. He couldn't wait to feel it split him open.

"That's good," Hinata said, as he eased himself down. Every so often the Wolf's fingers tightened at his waist, digging hard into his flesh. Tobio couldn't tell if it was reflex, or Hinata trying to make sure he didn't go too fast. _"Ah,_ Tobio… you feel good…"

If Tobio felt good to Hinata, he wasn't sure what he could say in return—because he had never felt anything like this, not even the first time Hinata had touched him. Even when Hinata had held him and fucked him with his fingers.

"Y-you—feel—" he managed to say, and then faltered off into gasping nothingness, when Hinata pushed a hand up his chest to fit against his collarbone, holding down on his shoulder, his thumb pushing the barest hint of pressure at Tobio's throat.

 _Perfect,_ maybe, was the word he was seeking, if he could have spoken. Instead he just let Hinata fill him, one arm secured around Tobio's waist, warm and reassuring. He was so thick Tobio could feel the way it opened him, felt Hinata pressing against him inside. It burned him up—he hadn't imagined another person could feel like so much fire, but if it were to be anyone, of course it would be Hinata.

"…You're…" Hinata whispered, voice barely leaving him, "…doing so good, Tobio. You look _so good."_

He was looking up at Tobio with an expression that defied categorization, blinking slow, eyes wide and dark and mesmerized. Tobio felt caught, laid completely bare.

"You don't care?" he wondered suddenly. "It doesn't bother you—that I'm—"

"What?" Hinata asked. He caressed Tobio's side, fingers bumping over each rib in turn.

"I'm t-tall," Tobio stammered, embarrassed. "I'm bigger than you, even though—"

Hinata actually laughed. "Where'd that come from?"

"I just—" Tobio tried to explain, "I know I'm not—for a Lamb, I'm—"

"Mmm…" Hinata murmured contemplatively. He gripped Tobio's hips and rocked his own, and Tobio gasped, loud and long. Hinata was now so _deep_ inside him. "You feel good?"

"Y-yes—yes," Tobio said, good didn't come close to describing it— "m-more— _please,_ more—"

"Then," Hinata said, kissing across his collarbone, nipping at his shoulder, "why would I care if you're bigger than me? Am I enough for you?"

 _"Yes,_ " Tobio moaned again. He choked on his words as Hinata worked his hips in a slow, lazy circle. It made him arch his back, body shuddering at how completely full Hinata's cock made him feel.

"You're everything you're supposed to be," Hinata whispered. "Stop worrying. All I care about is letting you feel every inch of me inside you."

 _"Hnnh—_ " Tobio whined, "I w-want it. I want it—I _want—"_

Hinata shushed him gently. "I know. Oh, god, I know you do."

Tobio had no prior experience in matters like these, in order to say for certain if Hinata was as skillful as his friends had joked about—but he now suspected that those were not jokes, after all. Hinata was the one in heat, and yet, somehow, it was Tobio who fell apart faster, as Hinata started to fuck him in earnest, legs spread apart and feet planted on the floor. Tobio wanted to help him, but it was all he could do to stay upright and rock his hips in time with Hinata's slow, solid thrusts. Hinata traced his hand up and down Tobio's spine, his other arm wrapped around his waist, pulling Tobio flush to him with every hard roll of his hips. He trailed his lips across Tobio's neck and throat over and over, like he couldn't help himself, couldn't keep from tasting.

It wasn't the fact that nobody had ever touched Tobio like this before, that made it so overwhelming. It was that he had started to accept that no one would ever want to. He had believed that no one would ever feel this much for him.

He had been totally unable to see how much Hinata cared about him.

Tobio laughed—the sound was almost unrecognizable, was too close to crying, and Hinata's arms around him tightened. He stilled underneath Tobio, and Tobio wanted to say that it was alright, that he was fine, but couldn't quite manage it. He didn't know what to say to Hinata. He'd never been good with words. He didn't know how to tell someone that he hadn't really known what it meant to be happy before he'd met them.

"Tobio?" Hinata breathed, and Tobio knew he had to say _something,_ because the strain on Hinata must have been immense. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know how to—I feel like I don't deserve this."

He'd been told throughout his whole life that he wasn't good enough, not good enough to be a Lamb, not good enough to satisfy a Wolf. He'd fought and he'd fought, he had tried not to listen, but slowly, it had become true to him. He'd accepted it. And now here was one man who was better than all the rest, who had believed all along that Tobio was best as he was.

Tobio felt like he could never live up to it.

But Hinata would never let him believe that.

_"Yes, you do."_

He was glaring up at Tobio, with that fiercely determined expression of his, and Tobio took his face in both hands, drinking in his conviction, so much of it that he knew he would overflow.

"You do because—you're mine, you're mine now," Hinata said, "everything I want to give you is yours to take."

"What if I want all of you?" Tobio challenged him, mulish still, even though his vision was swimming. "Everything."

"You… stubborn Ram," Hinata murmured, smiling already, and Tobio leaned in to kiss him. Amazing, how fitting that old nickname sounded, when Hinata said it. "Like that's supposed to scare me. It's okay—to want this."

"Ah, I—I do," Tobio mumbled, grinding against Hinata needily. "F-fuck me—"

He wanted to feel Hinata moving again, and Hinata didn't need to be told twice. He braced his hands on Tobio's thighs, fingers squeezing into the muscle there as he set a new pace, harder, and much more frantic. He must be right at his limit, Tobio knew, and it felt good, now that he'd had so long to adjust. Hinata pounding into him like that made him dizzy, he could hear it, every time he was emptied and filled again—it made him moan, how wet and open he felt. He couldn't stop the sounds from pouring out of him, climbing higher, more desperate, on every thrust Hinata gave him.

"You take me so good, Tobio—" Hinata panted, "like you were made for me—I love the noises you make—"

 _"Ah,_ Hina— _Shouyou—"_

"I'm going to have you like this—all the time—" Hinata said, grinding his hips in a slow roll. Tobio cried out, as Hinata dragged pressure inside him where he was most sensitive. He tensed up entirely, trembling and about to finally break. "I'm going to finally get my fill of you—"

"I'm—" Tobio gasped, "I'm going to—I need to come—"

"I could Claim you for myself," Hinata breathed, "right now—"

_"Do you want—"_

"—but I don't need to," Hinata said, as he pressed his lips warm right over Tobio's heart. "I'm already yours."

Tobio swore as he finished, vision going stark and white, voice breaking under the stunning wave of pleasure that overtook him. It was a different kind of deep, satisfying bliss than he'd ever felt before—and instead of fading, it grew stronger, when Hinata pressed his face into his chest and raised his arms again to cling to him, stifling a long groan into Tobio's skin.

He murmured Tobio's name again and again, and that kept Tobio shivering through the aftershocks, as Hinata spilled inside him, hips jumping unevenly until at last he was still, save for his chest heaving with his breath.

They were both quiet. Then Hinata sighed, warm air blowing out against Tobio's chest, and Tobio remembered the reason everything had just happened.

"D-do you feel better?" he whispered.

"Oh, god," Hinata groaned, and then laughed. "So much better. But once might not be enough tonight."

Tobio blinked. "Th-that's fine. I'll sleep in here."

Hinata finally raised his head to look at Tobio. His eyes were wide again. "Tobio… were you going to ask me if I wanted to Mark you?"

It took Tobio a moment to realize what he was talking about. He flushed and looked quickly away, thoughts reeling. He had been very caught up in the moment—but at the time, he'd been thinking only of Hinata, of what it might mean to be Claimed by _him,_ not just any Wolf—

"Hey," Hinata said, threading his fingers through Tobio's, "I meant what I said. You've got me as it is, I don't need to bite you to prove it."

Tobio leaned down to press his forehead against Hinata's. "That means," he said, "that I'm yours, too."

"That means you're mine," Hinata agreed, with a smile spreading over his face. "Mine for me to love, Tobio."

And there was not a doubt left in Tobio's mind that this was true.

*

Several weeks after that—after the excitement of the festival, the nonstop effort required to keep things running, had died down—Tobio received a letter.

He hadn't been expecting the letter. But it would be a lie to say he hadn't been hoping for it, either.

It was delivered to him near the end of the day as he was finishing up tidying the shop, and he set aside the broom he was sweeping with to peruse it. The parchment was thick and the address written in a fancy script, colored ink; it was sealed with wax, upon which had been stamped the crest of a noble.

Quickly, he opened it and skimmed through it, delight growing with every sentence he read. Broom forgotten, he turned and hastened towards the forge, where Hinata was still working.

"Hinata!" he called. "Hina—oy, stop hammering for a second so I can talk—"

Hinata heeded him, though he looked slightly put out. "I'm nearly done for today!" he protested. "I really wanted to make some good progress on the—"

"Trust me… you'll want to read this," Tobio said.

Hinata was working on a new project, a large one. Tobio had offered his assistance, but Hinata had said it was something he wanted to do himself. Something for the two of them, that Hinata had made for them to share. He had been incredibly focused on it as of late, but at Tobio's insistence, he took the letter from him and began to read it aloud.

"To the fine gentlemen—oh, well this can't be addressed to us, already," Hinata said, and Tobio pinched his cheek, hard. "Ouch! Okay, okay—to the fine gentlemen of Wolf and Lamb Smithing. We have recently come to witness your… your _impeccable_ craftsmanship in the work you have done for— _Sir Tetsurou?"_ Hinata looked up at Tobio with wide eyes. "For Kuroo? Kageyama, who sent this?"

"Keep reading," Tobio said, moving to stand behind him and wrap his arms around Hinata's shoulders, resting his chin on the top of his head. Hinata blinked down at the paper, and continued.

"He had a most high regard for your work ethic, and your skillset, and encouraged us to write you ourselves. In short: we would like to—" Hinata squeaked, bringing the letter up to his face, as though wondering whether the words might change if he stared at it with his nose touching the paper. "We would like to _commission you..._ for a sword of— _y-your own design?! Tobio—"_

"Told you it was good," Tobio said, grinning.

"This isn't real," Hinata said faintly. "There's no way this is—did you write this?"

"Where would I have gotten that seal from?" Tobio asked, pointing to the house family crest in the wax, one of the oldest and well-to-do noble families of the kingdom. They were a very reputable house, and would not make a request of that manner lightly. "They must have been really impressed with you," he added.

 _"And_ you!" Hinata cried, and then, without warning, turned and tossed his arms around Tobio. "You know that right? This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't… if you hadn't made me believe I _could_ do it."

"Ah—" Tobio said, and then shut his mouth as a wave of emotion threatened to overwhelm him. Fondness, and pride, and, he was sure now—love. He cleared his throat. "You should just believe me when I tell you things from now on. I always know better than you."

"I don't even need to listen to this to know you're lying," Hinata said, ear pressed to Tobio's chest. And then he looked up, and beamed up at Tobio. "You should know better than to try by now."

Tobio shoved him off, trying to hide his smile. "Finish up with this and let's have dinner. I'm starving."

He gave the bedframe Hinata was working on a good-natured kick—it rattled off the iron, and Hinata grabbed it protectively to stop its quivering. He was assembling it in sections—a big, spacious bed, more than enough for the two of them to sleep comfortably next to each other night after night. Tobio didn't know if it needed to be _quite_ so large; after all, they both slept best when they could be close.

Though, he supposed, their current sleeping arrangements were a bit small for _some_ of the activities they now enjoyed on a regular basis.

"Don't be rude!" Hinata griped at him. "You know, the metal will pick up on things like that! Your emotions… I don't want a grouchy new bed!"

Tobio glared at him. "You can just share with Red, then. He'd like that, wouldn't you, Red?"

The rooster, who was keeping Hinata company while he worked, gobbled in what might have been agreement, or confusion. Tobio couldn't be sure.

"Hmm," Hinata said, mock seriously, "maybe I'll just move you out into the chicken coop, if that's the case."

Tobio turned on his heel. "I hate you, I hope you know."

He knew his heart would give away his true meaning, even without looking at the Wolf's expression. And yet he glanced over his shoulder anyway, just to catch Hinata's smile.

"I hate you, too," Hinata said—and it was the warmth in his voice that molded and strengthened the happiness inside of Tobio. "So very, very much."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One for the running and one for the lives  
> A livid heart beating and soaking the fire  
> [And I, I'm ready to go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgZX0yw3J_k)
> 
> \--
> 
> Once more: thank you everyone so much for your support and endlessly kind words, and most of all for reading! This fic became so much bigger than I expected it to in the telling. It's really personal to me in a lot of ways, and I appreciate SO MUCH all the wonderful, thoughtful things you all had to say about Tobio's journey, because it became so important to me over the course of writing this. Thank you <333
> 
> If you haven't gotten a chance to check out the roleswap of this fic yet, you can read the _Hunger_ series [here](http://archiveofourown.org/series/499891)!
> 
> I'm in the home stretch of [Kinktober 2017](http://esselley.tumblr.com/post/165918412429/a-very-kagehi-kinktober-2017) over on Tumblr, but after that, I have another big adventure planned for KageHina that I can't wait to get cranking on... maybe my biggest one yet! Hope to see you there :')
> 
> [I'm [@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


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